The 50th Anniversary of Ethiopian Shipping Lines marked with the inaugural ceremony for nine new ships at Djibouti The 50th Anniversary of Ethiopian Shipping Lines, now the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Service Enterprise (ESLSE), was marked on Saturday (May 17) in Djibouti. The occasion brought together Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia, heading a delegation that included Deputy Prime Minister, Demeke Mekonnen, Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr. Tedros Adhanom and Minister of Transport, Workneh Gebeyehu, and President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh of Djibouti and Djibouti ministers and officials. At the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new nine vessels, Prime Minister Hailemeriam thanked the Government and People of the Republic of Djibouti for their support to Ethiopia’s efforts to broaden and elevate its capacity to move goods across the world. Backed by the “right mix of appropriate policies and strategic leadership” of the Government, Ethiopia’s economy, he said, had witnessed substantial growth over the last ten years, extricating millions out of poverty. This double digit growth had helped Ethiopia to successfully complete the ship building project. He said that to extend and guarantee Ethiopia’s growth, peace, and stability, other Horn of African countries including Djibouti needed to grow as well. The inauguration of new nine vessels underlined Ethiopia’s championship of economic integration and respect for values of mutual benefit. The Prime Minister reiterated that Ethiopia and Djibouti enjoyed friendly and mutually beneficial relations, swimming equally together in economic, trade, businesses, social, people-to-people, security and political moves. The construction of the railway line between the two countries, he said, offered a telling example of Ethio-Djiboutian economic integration for the benefit of all. Speaking at the ceremony, President Ismail Guelleh said We believe that Ethiopia is Djibouti and Djibouti is Ethiopia, no difference at all,” adding that the inauguration of new nine vessels would increase the cooperative partnership of the two countries, expand areas of cooperation and further cement the already excellent existing people-to-people and government-to-government relations. Ethiopia’s Minister of Transport, Workneh Gebeyehu, said the inauguration of new nine vessels was a symbol of the true manifestation of economic integration and pragmatic friendship. Effective and efficient transport and logistics services, he emphasized, were a sine qua non for Ethiopia’s efforts to add value to its economic growth. He noted that Government of Ethiopia attached special importance to infrastructure as a central element for the realization of economic development. Ahmed Tusa, CEO of ESLSE, said the nine new vessels were named after the capitals of the regional states of Ethiopia and this was a characteristic manifestation of the value of the Ethiopian federation and underlined the role played by Ethiopia’ nations, nationalities and peoples in the successful completion of the shipping project. Following the speeches and ribbon-cutting, Prime Minister Hailemariam and President Guelleh, along with several Ministers and Ambassadors of the two nations, had a tour on inspection of the new ships. Prime Minister Hailemariam also presented awards to EXIM Bank of China, Huanghai Shipyard, Jinling Shipyard, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Insurance Corporation of Ethiopia, Poly Technology Inc of China, and the supervising companies including ABS and CEMIT, in recognition of their contribution to the ship building project.
Posted on: Mon, 19 May 2014 12:13:09 +0000
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