Ambassador Berhane Gebrechristos, State Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Bob Hiensch, Ambassador- at-Large for the Netherland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Thursday (April 4th) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on formalizing the existing tradition of dialogue between the two countries, and aimed at strengthening relations on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues. In their discussions, Ambassador Berhane underlined the long-standing and excellent relations existing between the two countries and expressed Ethiopia’s desire to transform the relationship into a strategic partnership. Ethiopia is, he said, transforming itself in all aspects. He appreciated the encouraging FDI inflows from investors from the Netherlands in the brewery, flower and other sectors. He said the Government would also like to see more investment in priority areas including agro-industrial sectors.
The State Minister said he greatly appreciated the long-standing tradition of dialogue between the two countries and expressed his belief that the signed agreement would help transform and broaden overall relations to a higher level. Ethiopia wanted to see a more understanding and constructive engagement, as detailed in the MOU, including dialogue on issues of revisiting cooperation in line with the EU Platform. He welcomed the meaningful development support that the Netherlands government and people had provided in food security, reproductive health and institution building, and expressed his belief that there was scope to scale up the breadth and effectiveness of development cooperation. He appreciated the Netherlands encouragement of the private sector in Ethiopia; this of course is one of the Government’s priorities. The State Minister also noted the shared vision and cooperation between the two countries on regional issues of common interest, not least in ensuring regional peace, stability and security, bilaterally and through the AU, and in international affairs.
The Ambassador-at-Large also stressed the excellent relations that exist between the two countries and expressed his government’s readiness to promote and expand investment relations. Ambassador Hiensch explained his Government’s new thinking about development cooperation and expressed readiness to continue to support the strengthening and expansion of public-private- partnerships in Ethiopia. He also expressed his Government’s readiness to continue supporting Ethiopia’s effort to improve food security, reproductive health, education and building institutional capacity, adding that it was also ready to see ways to expand the scope of development cooperation. Mr. Hiensch also welcomed Ethiopia’s positive role and leadership in ensuring regional peace and stability, adding that the signed memorandum would pave the way for stronger cooperation in all areas.
The four person Netherland’s delegation also held detailed consultations with the Director General of the European Affairs Directorate General, Ambassador Grum Abay, on bilateral, regional and international issues of common interest. Ambassador Hiensch extended an invitation for Ambassador Berhane and Ambassador Grum to visit the Netherlands; both expressed readiness to consider the invitation. Last month the Netherlands Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Mrs. Liliane Ploumen, paid an official visit to Ethiopia during which she head talks with Prime Minister Hailemariam and Foreign Minister Dr. Tedros.
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* Originally published on A Week in the Horn of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – on April 5, 2013 issue, titled “Ethiopia and Netherlands sign an MOU on formalizing dialogue”. Items from A Week in the Horn are re-published here with a permission to do so.
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