This was expressed by the Ethiopian Ambassador to Beijing, Tefera Derbeyo, when highlighting the history of relations between the two countries built on friendly partnership and not competition. President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made the announcement last Tuesday after a bilateral meeting in the Chinese capital.
Derbio pointed out that only four countries in the world have a strategic partnership in all fields (economic, social, military and security) with the Asian giant. Ethiopia is the only country in Africa that has established strong relations at this level.
He considered this a great opportunity for Addis Ababa by promoting convergence of views that go beyond economic, military and security cooperation, as well as links between people, from one institution to another and from one company to another, and the trade of goods and materials. .
The Ethiopian Prime Minister arrived in China on Monday to pay an official state visit and participate in the third Belt and Road Initiative Forum for International Cooperation.
During the bilateral meeting with Jinping, Ahmed pointed out the importance of Chinese investments in the African country’s economy and encouraged more investments in the five main pillars: agriculture, manufacturing, information and communications technology, mining and tourism.
The Chinese President congratulated the Ethiopian Prime Minister on his joining the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and praised the achievements made through the Green Legacy Initiative to mitigate the effects of climate change, noting its compatibility with the green development policy. China.
As part of the forum’s activities, which witnessed the participation of representatives from more than 140 countries and 30 global organizations, the Ethiopian-China Investment Forum was held in Beijing and Shanghai to promote investment opportunities here.
The Ethiopian Investment Corporation (EIC) has signed a memorandum of understanding with two Chinese pharmaceutical companies and an agricultural processing company interested in investing in the African country.
EIC CEO, Lillis Nemi, was accompanied by Finance Minister Ahmed Shide at the event attended by more than 300 potential investors who deliberated on Addis Ababa’s investment potential in mining and other priority sectors.
Regarding the topic, the Deputy Head of Mission of the Ethiopian Embassy in China, Dewanu Kider, explained that the forum was organized to encourage more investors from the Asian country to take advantage of Ethiopian opportunities.
Qadir confirmed that a total of five Chinese companies decided to come to Addis Ababa to make investments, in addition to holding talks between Ethiopian delegates and company representatives. He added, in short, that the investment and business forum was effective and successful.
After the conclusion of the Third Belt and Road Forum, Ahmed continued his official working visit to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, one of the most famous stock exchanges in the world, to exchange experiences, taking into account the recent establishment of the African Capital Markets Authority.
The program also included Huawei Centre, a company with many projects and investments in the African country, especially in the communications sector, which contributes to achieving Ethiopia’s digital strategy 2025.
As well as Yangshan Deep Water Port, which is the largest automated container terminal in China and the world.
The previous day, he had visited the green city of Chengdu in the Chinese province of Sichuan, which is linked by direct flights to this capital and commercial, educational and medical cooperation links. This city is the third largest city after Beijing and Shanghai.
Ahmed toured the new Tianfu area and the agricultural exhibition park, in addition to the giant panda breeding research base. He also participated in a luncheon hosted by leaders of the Chinese Communist Party in that province and held discussions on potential areas for enhancing cooperation.
RO/NMR
“Award-winning alcohol trailblazer. Hipster-friendly internetaholic. Twitter ninja. Infuriatingly humble beer lover. Pop culture nerd.”