PM Abiy Ahmed visits Djibouti on his first foreign trip

Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed concluded his two-day visit to Djibouti on 29 April 2018. He arrived in neighbouring Djibouti on Saturday in what was his first foreign trip since taking office in early April 2018. Leading a large delegation that included ministers, he was received by Djibouti President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh at Ambouli International Airport.

During his visit, the Ethiopian Premier met with President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh to review the multifaceted relations of the two countries and exchanged views on regional security issues. The two leaders agreed to work closely on common issues, elevate the existing economic relations to a new height and work closely to speed up the economic integration of the two countries. 
The two sides gave due consideration to strengthen the people-to-people ties between the two countries and underscored the need to attach huge attention to joint border development and security. Ethiopia and Djibouti are highly interdependent and have many interests in common. Those interests have been boosted by the establishment of a Chinese-built, 756-kilometer electrified rail project, which officially started operations this year.

They evaluated the ongoing projects that are instrumental to our integration such as railway, road, water and telecom, power, and discussed on improving logistics and port efficiency both regarding cost and speed, partnering in the new port development. The two leaders also agreed to strengthen the existing Joint Ministerial Commission and IGAD’s job in the field of security, particularly in the fight against terrorism in the sub-region.

They also discussed on ways to enhance cooperation on multilateral fora such as the AU and the UN as well as underlined the importance of working towards the realisation of complete integration of the two economies. They further emphasised the need to maintain peace, security, and stability in the region to achieve the target set to transform the livelihoods of people of the two countries.

Prime Minister Dr Abiy also addressed the Djiboutian Parliament as well as visited Port Djibouti, Doraleh Container Terminal (DCT) and Djibouti industrial park.