(Feb. 03, 2012 – A Week in the Horn of Africa)
On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hailemariam Desalegn met with Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mohamed Kamel Amr for their first political consultation meeting. Prior to this, senior officials of both countries met on January 27th to review and evaluate implementation of the agreements signed between the two countries during the fourth round of the Joint Commission held in Cairo on September 14th -16th last year. The Ministers discussed the status of the implementation of the action plan aiming to endorse bilateral relations in all areas. They exchanged views on the development of bilateral relations and expressed their satisfaction with the outcome of the implementation agreements signed between them over the past few months. They also noted with appreciation the positive development in relations, and the progress made in joint projects and developmental programs, particularly in the fields of health, capacity building, water resources and irrigation, tourism and agriculture as well as diplomatic training and investment. The two parties emphasized their willingness to sign additional agreements in mining and for a national research institute of astronomy and geophysics. They agreed to activate the Cooperation Protocols signed at the 3rd joint Ministerial Meeting, and reaffirmed their commitment to sustain the pace of development and cooperation in all fields.
The ministers welcomed the establishment of the Egyptian Ethiopian Technical Advisory Committee on water resources and irrigation and the convening of the Panel of Experts from Egypt, Ethiopia and the Sudan on the Grand Renaissance Dam as positive steps towards achieving the overall objective of building confidence between among the three countries. They also exchanged views on regional political and security issues in Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan, reaffirming the Kampala Agreement as a viable option to bring lasting peace, security and stability in Somalia.
Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam said that bilateral relations were on the right track and stressed the need to continue their joint political discussions. It was agreed that the next joint political consultation should take place in July. Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr said that Egypt wanted to consolidate further its relations and cooperation with Ethiopia. It was, he added, keen to establish wider investment and trade ties and was planning to set up an Egyptian industrial zone in Ethiopia in the near future. He also underlined that any government in Egypt would respect the agreements that had been signed between Egypt and Ethiopia.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation said that the Panel to study the impact of the Grand Renaissance Dam should be convening in Addis Ababa by the end of the week for a two day meeting when it will be choosing two international water and social science experts as members of the Panel. At an earlier meeting in Khartoum, it chose two experts in the fields of dam construction, mega reservoirs and the environment. The full Panel is due meet later this month in Cairo to start its assessment. It is expected to work for six to nine months before presenting its recommendations to the three governments on any positive or negative factors and on means to handle their impact.
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Check the Egypt archive or the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam archive for related posts.
