Foreign Minister Dr Tedros Adhanom opened) the Annual Conference of Ambassadors, Consuls General, and Directors General at Ghion Hotel in Addis Ababa on Tuesday (August 11, 2015). The Foreign Minister, speaking on the occasion, briefed the participants on the performance of the Ministry over the previous year ranging from remarkable gains in the areas of peace and security to trade and investment. Dr Tedros noted that the signing of a Declaration of Principles (DoP) between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt was heraldic of a new era of cooperation over the use of the waters of the Nile on the basis of win-win outcomes and mutual benefit. Dr Tedros emphasized that the cooperative partnership between Ethiopia and Djibouti is on the rise reaching a new height, adding that this momentum further augments the two countries’ efforts to work in tandem for the realization of full fledged economic integration. The Foreign Minister who said the holding of the 53rd Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Mogadishu this year is indicative of a positively changing political and security situation in Somalia. He also noted that the IGAD Ministerial meeting can be regarded as an achievement in as much as it testifies the fact that Somalia is open for business to the world. He said that the implementation of the Addis Ababa Agreement signed between the Jubaland administration and the Federal Government of Somalia is progressing on a right track paving the way for the creation of regional state formation, adding that the Agreement facilitated by Ethiopia is noteworthy achievement as it is bringing peace in the Jubaland administration. He also mentioned that public diplomacy team’s visits to Egypt and Sudan conveyed the objective of building trust and fraternal ties as well as Ethiopia’s desire for mutual growth and strong bond. He noted that President Obama’s Ethiopia visit is a reflection of the consistent and principled engagement of the leadership of the two countries, underlining that this historic visit opens a new dawn for more progress in areas of common interest. Dr Tedros indicating the fact that Ethiopia’s success in hosting of the Third Conference on Financing for Development has brought it into a limelight of international diplomacy highlighted that the conference was equally important platform to tell the world the overall change taking place in Ethiopia and its future political and economic trajectory. Dr Tedros also expressed his appreciation to diplomats for quickly catching up with new era diplomacy tools; calling upon other diplomats and missions to adopt digital diplomacy to engage the overseas publics and communicate Ethiopia’s vision to the outside world. Evaluations on the performance of Ethiopian overseas missions were made following the opening of the conference.
