South Korea Delegation Pledges to Support Peace Efforts in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa August 29/2022 /ENA/ The government of South Korea will support the efforts being exerted by Ethiopia government to ensure peace and stability in the country, a delegation of South Korean Parliament affirmed.

Furthermore, South Korean Members of Parliament (MPs) have expressed commitment to scale up economic cooperation and people to people ties between the two countries.

A delegation of South Korean Parliament along with staffs of South Korean embassy in Addis Ababa conferred with Ethiopian House of Peoples' Representative Foreign Relation and Peace Affairs Standing Committee Deputy Chairperson, Fethe Mahadi and Sub-standing Committee Chairperson, Tawfik Abdullahi today.

On the occasion, the Deputy Chairperson Fethe Mahadi said that Ethiopia has keen interest to scale up the existing economic cooperation between the two countries to higher level, recalling that the two countries have enjoyed long standing bilateral relation.

South Korea has been providing development and technical assistance to Ethiopia over the past years, he added.

South Korea, through the Korean International Cooperation Agency, is currently carrying out more than 40 development projects that worth 100 million USD in Ethiopia, he stated.

The projects are focusing on transport, energy, rural development, health, sanitation and education sectors.

"Such type of cooperation has significant contribution to the development of Ethiopia that need to be enhanced,"  Fethe pointed out stressing the  need for South Korean companies to invest more in Ethiopia particularly in areas of mining and agriculture sectors.

He also called on the South Korean government for more cooperation in financing Ethiopia’s ten year perspective plan with concessional approach and raising private sector fund through investment and public private partnership modalities.

However, expressing the disappointment of Ethiopia with the unfair position of South Korean Government in international fora in the law enforcement measure taken by the government against the TPLF group and Shene, he urged the South Korean government to reassess its stance and to cooperate with Ethiopia in the international arena.

Head of the delegation, MP Lee Jae Jung said the diplomatic relation between Ethiopian and South Korea is cemented with blood, adding that Koreans will never forget the sacrifice paid by Ethiopian troops in Korean War.

The government of Korea is keen to enhance the existing bilateral relations in agriculture, trade, investment, tourism, culture and people to people ties among others in to higher levels, she noted.

She stressed that her government will continue to work in enhancing economic cooperation for the mutual benefit of the two countries.

She further pointed out that the South Korean government will support the efforts of solving conflicts peacefully to ensure peace and stability in the country.

One of the objectives of the visit by South Korean delegation is to see and enhance the humanitarian aid being provided by the World Food Program with the support of South Korean government, it was learned.