Foreign Minister Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu met with his Irish counterpart Mr. Simon Conevey in Addis today (November 06) during which the two parties urged the need to further scale up the ever growing bilateral ties to a high gear. Noting the development partnership that Ireland forges with Ethiopia not only as the largest one in Africa but also in the world, Foreign Minister Simon expressed his country’s fervor to further deepen and broaden the relations mapping out new areas of engagement; be it economic or political. Given Ethiopia’s reputation in economic progress, stability and its exemplary role in regional as well as continental venues and Ireland’s ambitious new policy project to forge meaningful relations with other African countries, the Foreign Minister highlighted the immense benefits of consulting the government of Ethiopia. He noted, Ethiopia will continue to be “the largest financial and development partner of Ireland.”
Commending his Irish counterpart for choosing Ethiopia as a first destination of his African visit, Dr. Workneh dubbed the relations between the two countries as “a very important one.” Taking note of Ireland’s remarkable achievement in swiftly and productively transforming the unemployed youth in a very short period of time, Dr. Workneh said Ethiopia looks forward to working with Ireland to learn lessons on how to largely make the youth part of the economic boom in the country. He also hails the Irish investors in Ethiopia who are contributing a lot in further cementing the ties. 17 Irish companies including Radisson Blu and M-Birr with a capital of more than 725 million birr are involved in investment in Ethiopia.
The two sides noted with satisfaction the success of bilateral cooperation in the areas of investment and emphasized the need to scale up collective endeavors in livestock, technology transfer as well as issues of migration.
Issues ranging from the on- going political reform including the dialogue with political parties to peace and security in the Region, giving particular emphasis on South Sudan and Somalia, were also subjects raised on the occasion.
Mr. Conevey is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn in the afternoon. The visiting Minister will also meet Minister of MoFEC and Chairperson of the AU Commission. He is also expected to make a visit to Kenya.
