Malawi Wire

South Korea has been working to further strengthen its exiting development and trade relations with Ethiopia, Ambassador of South Korea in Ethiopia, Kang Seokhee said.

South Korean embassy in Addis Ababa has today announced a logo to depict the 60th anniversary of the commencement of diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Korea.

During the occasion, Ambassador Kang Seokhee said the existing historical and diplomatic relations between the two countries has still been sustained.

According to the ambassador, the ties, that had been initiated even before the official commencement of the diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and South Korea, has now spanned more than 70 years.

The sacrifices that Ethiopia had made to the peace and stability of South Korea during the Korean War by sending more than 6,000 soldiers has a great contribution to the current economy development in South Korea, he added.

South Korea has been enjoying bilateral and development cooperation with Ethiopia over the last 60 years, the ambassador indicated.

“South Korea has the largest development cooperation projects in Ethiopia. Some 100 million USD worth of projects are being implemented in Ethiopia annually, which is the largest in Africa. We hope our friend Ethiopia will grow economically and socially.”

The Ambassador stressed the need to identify future vital areas of cooperation that should be implemented by the two countries as they celebrate the 60th anniversary their diplomatic relations.

Ambassador Seokhee pointed out that the exchange of trade is crucial to help the efforts being carried out in Ethiopia to ensure sustainable development.

The 60th anniversary of Ethiopia and South Korea will be celebrated with various programs including photo exhibition and exchange of experiences.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Malawi wants to share the experience of Ethiopia in the energy sector and strengthen trade relations, Charge d’Affaires Diana Jere said.

Malawi’s Charge d’Affaires at the Embassy in Ethiopia, Diana Nkomba Jere said the two countries really need to strengthen their bilateral relations in many fields so that both can benefit.

We need to strengthen trade between Malawi and Ethiopia because Ethiopia is a big and larger economy, she added.

In Malawi, “we are struggling with energy issue, and we might get some help and guidance and direction from Ethiopia. We do need to boost our economy through trade and energy.”

According to her, the two countries also need to find ways of engaging each other in bilateral issues.

For example, the issue of free movement of people and people getting across Malawi without permission to go there.

As a government, we need to work together to ensure that these issues are resolved amicably and find ways of making sure that our people are interacting at equal basis, she elaborated.

In this regard, the Charge d’Affaires said that the African Continental Free Trade Area is important because if we put a lot of restrictions in a way people move, that would be like a shortcoming to free trade.

Therefore, we need people to learn from each other, teach each other and benefit from each other countries skills and knowledge so that the two countries can benefit, she stated.

“Africa is blessed in a way that we have different economies. There are some countries who are doing very well and those can teach the other countries. Because if one country is remaining behind, it means the other cannot progress very well. So we need to find a way of balancing the two.”

Jere further said that as Africa we are saying that we want Africa to be in this way. “One thing that I want to agree with the 2063 Agenda is that we want an Africa that is working together with less conflict and respect each other.”

Official documents show that Ethiopia and Malawi had diplomatic relations as far back as the 1960s and the two countries have been working very closely together in various areas.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency