Israeli Prime Minister Welcomes Premier Abiy

Addis Ababa ENA September 1/2019 Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was welcomed in an official ceremony by Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at his office in Jerusalem.

Premier Abiy Ahmed, who is in an official state visit in Israel, met with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Sunday.

In a joint press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu following their meeting, Abiy said his visit aimed at bolstering the exiting bilateral and historical relations between Ethiopia and Israel.

“I’m here to express my readiness to reinvigorate our relationship. We need to build it on common interests,” he said.

The Ethio-Israeli relation, which is guided by a strategic partnership, should focus on key areas such as modern agriculture and irrigation, information communication technology (ICT), health and tourism, Abiy noted.

The Prime Minister also called on the Israeli Government to provide capacity building assistance to Ethiopia in health, ICT and modern agriculture sectors.

He further invited Israeli investors to invest in Ethiopia in key industry sectors, including in telecoms, aviation, logistics, and energy.

The Prime Minister said Ethiopia will always work for a dynamic and effective partnership in promoting regional and global peace and security.

The Prime Minister also expressed his gratitude to the Israeli Government for demonstrating its solidarity with Ethiopia by dispatching a team early this year to support efforts in containing the Simien Mountain forest fires.

The Prime Minister also extended his condolences to the families, people, and government of Israel over the death of Aya Naemana, a young Israeli volunteer who died in Ethiopia this month, as well as for the two Israelis killed in Ethiopian airlines crash.

He further sent words of comfort to the Ethiopian-Israeli youth Solomon Teka, who was killed by an off-duty policeman in an incident in June.

Benjamin Netanyahu for his part commended Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s efforts and achievements since he took office a year and half.

“You are making every effort to change the economy in Ethiopia. Your courage in promoting the standing of Ethiopia both internationally and regionally is exemplary and I commend you in your achievements,” he said.

The Israeli Prime Minister also highlighted the importance of increasing trade relations between the two countries, which currently stands at $300 million.

Prime Minister Netanyahu also said he will encourage Israeli investors to invest in Ethiopia.

The Prime Minister further said the Israeli Government is ready to share its experience to Ethiopia, including in the fight against terrorism.

Netanyahu also thanked the Government of Ethiopia for its efforts to locate the missing Israeli volunteer, Naemana and for the efforts made to identify the two Israelis killed in the Ethiopian air crash.

Right after the remark, the two leaders presided over the signing of five joint declarations to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation and implementation of the agreement in the area of economic, agriculture, water, irrigation, health and science and technology.

Based on the declaration the two sides have agreed:

- to further strengthen the bilateral economic cooperation between the two countries in accordance with the respective laws and regulations of the parties, and bilateral agreement signed between them.

- to further strengthen their cooperation to implement the agreements signed at various levels in the areas of agriculture, water, irrigation, health and science and technology.

- to examine the possibilities of concluding additional agreement(s) in other fields of cooperation, including cyber security, telecommunication and space science and technology.

- to explore the establishment of additional mechanisms, as appropriate, to monitor the implication of agreements and provide solutions to problems that may arise in the implementation of these agreements.

- the parties, within the limits of their available resources, will encourage review and follow up of the implementation of agreements between the two countries.

Israel becomes his third landing country after his official visit in South Korea and Yokohama in Japan where he has participated in the 7^th Tokyo International Conference for African Development, TICAD-7.