By Rehan Khan
ISLAMABAD, Aug 05 (APP): Ethiopia and Pakistan have discussed signing of a bilateral political consultation agreement by end of this year to foster deeper cooperation at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels for addressing global challenges.
The signing of the agreement came under discussion during a meeting between Special Envoy and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia, Jemal Beker Abdula and Ministry of Foreign Affairs’s Additional Secretary (Africa) Ambassador Hamid Asghar Khan on Monday.
Both sides agreed to sign the agreement at the earliest possible time which will help create an institutional mechanism for both the countries to work together at bilateral, regional and multilateral levels for dealing with global issues such as climate change, terrorism, cybercrimes, fake news and others.
Ambassador Jemal Beker briefed the additional secretary about the earnest desire of the government of Ethiopia for signing the bilateral political consultation agreement with Pakistan to further strengthen the bilateral relations.
He highlighted the growing cooperation between the two countries in the realms of politics, economy, trade and culture through consistent and constructive engagement between the governments, business community, academia and professionals of the two countries with the delegations’ exchange in the last two years.
The ambassador also briefed the additional secretary about Home Grown Economic Reform Programme 1.0 (HGERP) which has doubled size of its Gross Domestic Product, making it top economy in the East Africa and 3rd economy in the Sub Saharan Africa under the leadership and guidance of Prime Minister of Ethiopia Dr. Abiy Ahmed Ali.
He said the government of Ethiopia has now launched the HGERP 2.0 creating a stable macroeconomic environment, transforming investment and trade environment, boosting productive growth and improving public sector capability.
The ambassador informed about Ethiopia’s initiatives for regional integration such as Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Green Legacy Initiative, Dine for Generation and others.
He said South Sudan has signed the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement which would ensure equitable and reasonable utilization of the Nile water and further integrate the region.
He said Ethiopia has been forefront to ensure peace and security in the region by bringing the warring parties on the table for talks to end the conflicts in the region.
On the other hand, the additional secretary reiterated the government of Pakistan’s commitment to further deepen the bilateral ties by enhancing bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation.
He informed that the government of Pakistan has ratified the bilateral political consultative agreement which was crucial to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.
