Addis Ababa, July 8 (WIC) – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Ethiopia, Mikhail Y. Afanasiev, said the bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Russia has been growing steadily.
In an exclusive interview he held with WIC, Ambassador Afanasiev, said the two countries have been enjoying sound bilateral relations in various sectors since 1991.
He said though the last year was marked by the culmination of the global financial crisis, 2009 proved to be the most economically successful in the Ethio-Russia relations.
“The overall bilateral trade totaled about 170 mln. USD, increasing 1.6 times as compared with 2008 and 4.8 times as compared with 2007,” Ambassador Afanasiev said.
He added in 2009, for the first time in the post-Soviet period the Russian Federation took an active part in a regular Addis Ababa International Trade Fair.
According to Ambassador Afanasiev, more than 20 Russian companies, organizations and agencies displayed their exhibits at a special Russian pavilion. Several Russian participants signed a number of contracts and protocols of intent with their Ethiopian and other foreign partners.
During the same period a Meeting of the Co-Chairs of the Russian-Ethiopian Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) on Economic, Scientific, Technical and Trade Cooperation was held in Addis Ababa, he said, adding both countries attach great importance to this mechanism in terms of promoting bilateral trade and economic partnership.
Regarding the investment and economic cooperation between the two countries, he said about two dozens of projects with full or partial participation of the Russian investors have so far been registered in Ethiopia. The total volume of expected investments exceeds 80 mln USD.
He added the Russian Embassy in Ethiopia is actively engaged in awareness raising and consultative activities to stimulate the participation of Russian companies in trade and industrial exhibitions and fairs that are regularly held in Addis Ababa.
Russia and Ethiopia are interested in establishing and enhancing cooperation in other sectors of economy as well. In particular, we see good prospects for mutually beneficial partnership in the fields of transport, water resources, mining, he said.
Efforts are taken to step up bilateral cooperation in humanitarian and cultural spheres, he said, adding we are exploring possibilities of sending qualified Russian specialists to Ethiopia and training more Ethiopians in Russia.
He further said the year 2010 is also remarkable in the history of our bilateral relations due to the fact that recently we signed an intergovernmental agreement on terms of accommodation of the Ethiopian diplomatic mission in Moscow. This agreement may be considered to be one more evidence of the truly friendly relations between our two countries, he added.
Speaking on political cooperation on the international arena, he said, “I can safely call it excellent and exemplary since Russia and Ethiopia have close interests and similar stands on the majority of priority issues of international agenda such as the UN role, formation of a truly safe and democratic world order and establishment of a comprehensive system of international security, including that at the African continent, reorganization of the global system of financial and economic relations, combating international terrorism”.
Russia and Ethiopia continue a good tradition of rendering support to initiatives and candidates of each other within the UN and other international fora, he added.
Commenting on the general elections recently conducted in Ethiopia, he said, “I am pleased to note that they were held in commendably peaceful atmosphere. All political parties had the opportunity to express their positions and opinions freely in the print and electronic media. For the first time in the Ethiopian history the political parties which participated in the election campaign received subsidies from the state budget. These facts testify to the maturing of the Ethiopian democratic institutions, including the National Electoral Board which showed a high level of efficiency and competence while organizing the electoral process”.
The elections were conducted with full observance of principle of secret ballot, the voters’ turnout was very high, he said, adding the Ethiopian people made their sovereign choice for the next five years and this choice should be respected.
