Ambassadors Acclaim Ethiopia’s Reform, Ready to Promote Support

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Addis Ababa ENA September 9/2019 Ambassadors residing in Addis Ababa have commended the ongoing sweeping reform programs in Ethiopia and expressed their readiness to foster their governments’ support. 

Ambassadors who talked to ENA said the reform programs under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed are far-reaching in the area of politics and economics which could benefit the citizens of the country.

UK Ambassador to Ethiopia, Alastair McPhail said the ongoing comprehensive reforms in Ethiopia have been quite breathtaking.

“We want to support the Prime Minister and the government in the reforms. We believe in democracy, we believe in media freedom and good governance so there are a variety of ways in which we are already working with the government and we will continue to look forward in which we continue that cooperation in the area we might expanded,” he said.  

The UK government is discussing with the government of Ethiopia on ways in which it will support the reform program and announced around 20 million USD which would go to the UNDP for the preparations of next year’s election.

Concerning challenges that the country is facing, Ambassador McPhail recommended that ‘Ethiopian problems need Ethiopian solutions’.

“We discussed with the government on how they are tackling some of these challenges but given the scale and nature of the challenges in this country I think it's important that the international community in general and United Kingdom in particular support the government,” he noted.

Turkish ambassador to Ethiopia, Yaprak Alp, on her part said that the government of Ethiopia is exerting efforts towards unity, peace, reconciliation, open economy, free elections, and inclusiveness in which Turkey is interested to support.

“It is privilege to be here during this time of the new Prime Minister and the new government, with all the reforms that are happening here. It’s exciting to wake up every morning to look at the news and see all the good things that are happening in this country and the Turkish government of course is following these developments very closely and supporting them."

Politically and economically Turkish is supporting the government of Ethiopia in every step of the way, the ambassador noted.

The reforms in Ethiopia are quite comprehensive and covering many areas, which is very important stride, Azerbaijan Ambassador to Ethiopia, Elman Abdullayev, said.

“First of all I would like to praise the efforts of the government of Ethiopia led by his Excellency Prime Minister on bringing peace and stability to the country on engaging whole country and of course implementation of a successful reforms which will you know definitely bring fruit and definitely be reflected on the future economic might of the country.”

The ambassador pointed out that the ongoing reform in Ethiopia has overriding importance in the region beyond sustaining peace and stability in the country.  

“I think these reforms are not only important but also they are crucial for not only Ethiopia as well the region also because we have known Ethiopia is important regional power,” he stated.

Korean Ambassador to Ethiopia Lim Hoon-min said Ethiopia has made a big achievement in economic and political reforms.

The ambassador noted that the reform in democratization process may face challenges including ethnic conflict and displacement.

“In the process of our democratization in Korea, we have also faced a lot of challenges and we overcome them. I am confident that the Ethiopian government and people will also overcome this challenge wisely and Korea will continue to support the government in this regard." 

Likewise, Indian Ambassador to Ethiopia and Djibouti, Anurag Srivastava said “we are thrilled by the reform process and are confident that this country will emerge stronger both politically and economically after the reform process.”

“Ethiopia under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is conducting very far reaching economic and political reforms in the last few months and what I can say is that we find the broad vision and direction of this reform is very positive and encouraging," he said.

India have been supporting the reform process by sharing experience through capacity building in key areas like federalism, digitization of the economy, financial inclusion to ensure better governance, the ambassador noted.  

The ambassadors are confident in the success of the reforms and unanimously recommended the importance of mobilizing the entire public towards picking up the pace of the reform programs.

Ethiopian News Agency
2023