The White House, Office of the Press Secretary

United Nations Building New York City, New York

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I want to extend a warm welcome to Prime Minister Desalegn and his delegation. When I spoke previously at the Africa Summit about some of the bright spots and progress that were seeing in Africa, I think theres no better example than what has been happening in Ethiopia — one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

We have seen enormous progress in a country that once had great difficulty feeding itself. Its now not only leading the pack in terms of agricultural production in the region, but will soon be an exporter potentially not just of agriculture, but also power because of the development thats been taking place there.

Were strong trading partners. And most recently, Boeing has done a deal with Ethiopia, which will result in jobs here in the United States. And in discussions with Ban Ki-moon yesterday, we discussed how critical it is for us to improve our effectiveness when it comes to peacekeeping and conflict resolution. And it turns out that Ethiopia may be one of the best in the world — one of the largest contributors of peacekeeping; one of the most effective fighting forces when it comes to being placed in some very difficult situations and helping to resolve conflicts.

So Ethiopia has been not only a leader economically in the continent, but also when it comes to security and trying to resolve some of the longstanding conflicts there. We are very appreciative of those efforts, and we look forward to partnering with them. This will give us an opportunity to talk about how we can enhance our strategic dialogue around a whole range of issues, from health, the economy, agriculture, but also some hotspot areas like South Sudan, where Ethiopia has been working very hard trying to bring the parties together, but recognizes that this is a challenge that were all going to have to work together on as part of an international community.

So I want to extend my thanks to the Prime Minister for his good work. And we look forward to not only an excellent discussion, but a very productive relationship going forward.

Mr. Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER DESALEGN: Thank you very much, Mr. President. First of all, I would like to thank you very much for receiving us during this very busy time. We value very much the relationship between the United States and Ethiopia. And as you mentioned, my country is moving, transforming the economy of the nation. But needless to say that the support of the United States in our endeavor to move forward has been remarkable.

I think the most important thing is to have the human capability to develop ourselves. And the United States has supported us in the various programs that helped us move forward in having healthy human beings that can produce. And as you mentioned, agriculture is the main source of our economic growth, and that has been the case because we do have our farmers which are devoid of malaria, which is the main debilitating disease while producing. So I think that has helped us a lot.

And we value also the support the United States has offered to us in terms of engaging the private sector, especially your initiative of the Power Africa program, which is taking shape. I think it’s remarkable and a modern kind of approach. And in that sense, we are obliged to thank you very much for this program and to deepen this Power Africa initiative.

Beyond that, you know that through your initiative and the leaders of the United States, we have the Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, which is the most important program, where the private-public partnership is the initiative. We have a number of U.S. investors now engaged in agricultural production, helping the smallholder farmers, which is the basis for our agricultural growth that’s taking place now in Ethiopia.

Besides, peace and security is very essential for any kind of development to take place. In that sense, our cooperation in peace and security and pacifying the region, the continent, as well as our Horn of Africa — I think this has helped us a lot to bring peace and tranquility in the region. And we’ve feel that we have strong cooperation. We have to deepen it. We have to extend now our efforts to pacify the region and the continent. Of course, also, we have to cooperate globally, not only in Africa, and that relationship has to continue.

So, Mr. President, thank you very much for receiving us. We value this relationship, which is excellent, and we want to deepen it and continue.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Two last points I want to make. Obviously we’ve been talking a lot about terrorism and the focus has been on ISIL, but in Somalia, we’ve seen al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al Qaeda, wreak havoc throughout that country. That’s an area where the cooperation and leadership on the part of Ethiopia is making a difference as we speak. And we want to thank them for that.

So our counterterrorism cooperation and the partnerships that we have formed with countries like Ethiopia are going to be critical to our overall efforts to defeat terrorism.

And also, the Prime Minister and the government is going to be organizing elections in Ethiopia this year. I know something about that. We’ve got some midterms coming up. And so we’ll have an opportunity to talk about civil society and governance and how we can make sure that Ethiopias progress and example can extend to civil society as well, and making sure that throughout the continent of Africa we continue to widen and broaden our efforts at democracy, all of which isn’t just good for politics but ends up being good for economics as well — as we discussed at the Africa Summit.

So, thank you very much, everybody.

source: http://www.einnews.com/pr_news/225792822/remarks-by-president-obama-and-prime-minister-desalegn-of-ethiopia-before-bilateral-meeting

Click here to view the video of the meeting.

Prime Minister Hailemariam delivered Ethiopia’s National Statement at the UN Climate Summit in New York on Tuesday (September 23). The Prime Minister noted that the country had set a long-term, national vision of ensuring its renaissance as well as a medium-term goal to become a middle-income country by 2025. To achieve this it had rejected the conventional business-as-usual path of development in favour of building a green climate-resilient middle-income economy, with zero-net carbon dioxide emission. The Prime Minister said economic growth had historically been associated with increased emissions of greenhouse gases, but Ethiopia had been working for continued double-digit economic growth without increasing emissions, rather indeed reducing them. It had implemented agricultural intensification, rehabilitation of degraded land, investment in water storage and irrigation schemes, improved inputs, practices and marketing systems, improved access to veterinary health services, increased generation of power from renewable energy sources, rural electrification, extensive use of energy efficient technologies and practices, and investment in railway systems powered by electricity generated from renewable energy. He said the country has put in place the required policy and institutional frameworks for a climate resilient green economy. It had already started implementing some of the measures, investing in the generation of clean and renewable power. By the middle of 2015 or shortly afterwards, it expects to increase power generation capacity from the baseline of 2000 MW to 10,000 MW. The energy regulatory body has been given an expanded mandate and authority to regulate energy efficiency. A series of afforestation and soil and water conservation measures are being taken across the country. The first stage of the light-railway system, powered by electricity from renewable energy sources, is set to start operation at the beginning of next year. Efforts are underway to ensure a major modal shift in the transportation of freight through investment in electric-powered railway lines. Ethiopia long ago abolished fossil fuel subsidies; it has started to produce bio-fuel by rehabilitating degraded land. Other sectors are developing strategies of ensuring resilience in the face of current and expected climate changes. Most importantly, Ethiopia, by mainstreaming climate change considerations in planning, has determined that its next generation development plans will be green and climate resilient. Equally, Prime Minister Hailemariam said, Ethiopia alone cannot guarantee success in building a green, climate resilient and middle-income economy. It needed support in finance, technology and capacity. While it was deeply grateful to partner countries for their help, it also believed the solution for such a complex and urgent challenge must be sought, developed and implemented everywhere. Ethiopia therefore called on those able to do so to devote substantial resources to the development and transfer of adaptation and mitigation technologies.

Read the full statement of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn here

View the video of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s speech here

Water ministers of Egypt and Sudan confirmed that the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project is progressing well. Ministers of the three countries of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan together paid a visit to the GERD project on Sunday.

Visiting the project, Egypt’s Water and Irrigation Minister, Hossam Moghazi, said the dam should not be a source of argument or quarrel; it should rather be a means of collaboration.

He expressed admiration for the Ethiopian Government for being open and letting him visit the project.

Appreciating the engineering quality of the dam, Sudanese Minister of Water Resource and Electricity, Mutaz Musa Abdalla Salim for his part said the region is coming to understand the multiple benefits of the dam and is looking forward to the ongoing Tripartite Discussions between the three countries.

The ministers will be sitting for extra discussions on Monday.

Addis Ababa, 22 September 2014 (WIC) – Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Tedros Adhanom said that Ethiopia is on track to eliminate poverty and become a middle income country by 2025.

Dr Tedros made the remark at the second Frontiers in Development Forum held in Ronald Reagan Building, 1300 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC, from September 18-19, 2014.

The Forum organized by USAID brought together leaders and development practitioners to address the question: How will we eradicate extreme poverty by 2030?

At the Forum, Dr Tedros highlighted Ethiopia’s development policies and strategies to promote rapid, broad-based and equitable growth as well as its target of reaching a middle income country.

“Ethiopia is on track to eliminate poverty and become a middle income country by 2025,” said Dr Tedros during his keynote address at the Forum.

He also said that the country is on track to achieve MDGs of social sectors: education and health, which are key in the fight against poverty.

Dr Tedros also explained Ethiopia’s focus on small holding farmers in rural areas and on micro and small enterprises in urban areas to create millions of jobs annually.

He also told participants about the importance of gender equality, good governance and democracy in conjunction with fighting poverty that are key to peace and prosperity of the country.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Tedros also met with USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah and discussed on food security and Ebola, a disease which has become a serious cause for concern to the world.

Dr Tedros assured him Ethiopia’s readiness to help in the fight against the disease.

He agreed to host regional meeting in Addis Ababa to share experience on food security among African countries.

U.S Secretary of State John Kerry on the occasion reiterated US Government’s commitment to end poverty and announced $63 million PEPFAR initiative led by USAID to mobilize domestic resources.

Addis Ababa, 22 September 2014 (WIC) – Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest carrier by revenue, agreed to buy 20 redesigned 737 models valued at $2.1 billion in the largest single order for Boeing (BA) Co. planes from the continent.

The order for the single-aisle Max 8, the first of four redesigned 737 models, comes with an option for an additional 15 planes, the companies said today in a statement.

The Boeing model will be a key component of the Addis Ababa-based carrier’s 15-year plan to expand its business to carry 18 million passengers a year, Ethiopian Airlines Chief Executive Officer Tewolde Gebremariam said during a tourism forum in Chicago.

“The African market has had a lot of great potential, but service has been a problem,” Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace consultant with Fairfax, Virginia-based Teal Group, said in a telephone interview from Washington.

“There are strong signs of improvement, led by Ethiopian and other airlines. This order shows a commitment to operate the most modern jets on domestic and intra-African routes.”

The order had been announced previously on Boeing’s orders and deliveries website, without identifying the airline.

Boeing’s Max 8 is due to enter service in 2017 and is being outfitted with new engines from a General Electric Co. joint venture.

Ryanair Holdings Plc (RYA) announced earlier this month that it would buy as many as 200 of the higher-capacity Max 200 model from the Chicago-based plane maker, with deliveries set to begin in 2019. (Bloomberg)

Addis Ababa, 17 September 2014 (WIC) – Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn declared the month of Meskerem (September) to be a month of kaizen to be observed country wide with various programs marked with the specific theme for years to come.

Speaking on the key issues of the 2014 month of kaizen at the first Kaizen council meeting held at his office yesterday, the premier vowed to scale up achievements attained so far in manufacturing and human resource development and to customize and disseminate kaizen to apply to low cost housing, infrastructure, the strategic service sector, in education from kindergarten to higher learning institutions and to institutionalize kaizen training in Regional States.

Kazuhiro Suzuki, Ambassador of Japan to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, on his part said that Japan is planning to establish human resource development centers in Africa and the KAIZEN activities in Ethiopia are to serve as a model for this center.

Ambassador Suzuki further expressed his wishes that KAIZEN will prove to be a valuable tool by contributing to Ethiopia’s economic growth and that all African countries will incorporate the kaizen philosophy into their countries’ policies in the near future.

In order to achieve this, the Japanese government would like to enhance its cooperation with the Ethiopian government.

Kaizen is a management philosophy. Expanding it into a national policy with people, businesses and organizations from all over the country employing this philosophy may prove to be challenging, but will be well worth the effort, Ambassador Suzuki said, adding that Japan’s expectation for Ethiopia’s future are overwhelmingly positive.

He added that Kaizen’s most important emphasis is on productivity improvement, and this is what Ethiopia needs most from now on. Everyone knows today that Ethiopia is and will continue to be undergoing tremendous economic development.

However, in order to achieve stable and long-term economic growth, constant productivity improvement is indispensable to Ethiopia. From this perspective, the introduction of kaizen is vitally important.

JICA Chief Representative, Kimiaki Jin, presented Kaizen’s role over the next 5 years while JICA Chief Advisor of the Ethiopian Kaizen project assessed the dissemination of Kaizen in Ethiopia.

The focus of Japanese assistance towards Africa is human resource development. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe reaffirmed this point during his speech at AU Headquarters this January