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Meles holds talks with US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (July 22, 2010)

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi received and held talks with United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Ambassador Johnnie Carson at his office.

PM Meles and Ambassador Johnnie Carson discussed on the role of the International community towards strengthening of the Interim Government of Somalia and AMISOM as well as on how to enhance effort for the peaceful realization of the peace process in Sudan.

President Girma Holds Talks With Departing European Union Ambassador (July 21, 2010)

President Girma Wolde-Giorgis saw off on Wednesday Ambassador of European Union (EU) to Ethiopia, Dino Sinigallia.

President Girma thanked the ambassador for his efforts made to strengthen development cooperation between Ethiopia and the EU. Read more

Ethiopia plans to increase Its Garment Export Revenue to One Billion US dollars after five years (July 19, 2010)

Ethiopia announces plan to increase the annual export revenue it gets from the export of garments to one billion US dollars after five years, its Textile Industry Development Institute announced.

Institute Director, Sileshi Lemma said the country has already launched activities geared towards attaining the one billion US dollar export revenue goal it anticipates to get.

The amount in which the nation planned to get during the reported period will be 40 times that of the sum it got during the just-ended budget year which stands at 25 million US dollars.

Ethiopia, China sign MoU to cooperate in horticulture dev't (July 19, 2010)

Ethiopia and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that enables the two parties to cooperate in horticulture development sector.

The MoU will particularly enable Ethiopia to supply its floriculture products to the Chinese market.

Signing the accord were Gao Zhiqin, President of Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering on Chinese side, and Haile-Selassie Tekie, Director General of the Ethiopian Horticulture Development Agency on Ethiopian side.

Political parties say they accept election results, congratulate EPRDF (May 31, 2010)

Some 14 political parties in Addis Ababa said they accept the election results and respect votes of the public. The parties also conveyed congratulatory message to the EPRDF.

EDP on its part wished winner of the 4th national elections a successful five-year term.

According to a joint statement the 14 political parties made at Sheraton Addis in the capital, they will respect public vote as the national elections was held in a peaceful and democratic manner.

CUD, ONC, AEDP, AENM, EVP and EDUM, among others, are some of the parties, which made the statement.

The parties said in their six-point resolution that though there were some problems in some areas during the 4th national elections, they will respect public vote, as the problems would not bring about basic change on the election result.

Ethiopia, Spain Sign grant agreement amounting to 1.22 million Euros (May 21, 2010)

Ethiopia and Spain signed here on Friday a grant agreement amounting to 1.22 million Euros.

The main purpose of the agreement is to support craftworkers and enable them to form a competitive productive sector capable of contributing to sustainable socio-economic development.

The grant will specifically go to Addis Ababa and Harar Craftwork Centers.

State Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Mekonnen Manyazewal and Ambassador of Spain to Ethiopia, Antonio Sanchez Bendito Gaspar signed the agreement.

Ethiopian News

Norwegian Co. sign accord to conduct feasibility study on hydro-electric projects (July 20, 2010)

The Ministry of Water Resource and Halcrow Group Ltd, a Norwegian company signed on an agreement to conduct a feasibility study on Mandaya and Beko-Abo multi-purpose hydroelectric projects to be built on river Nile.

The multi-purpose hydroelectric projects have the capacity to generate over 4,100 MW electric power.

The Ethiopians in Sweden colourfully celebrated the 19th Anniversary of May 20: -

The Embassy awarded Individuals with extra ordinary contributions and graduates of 2010 academic year (June 15, 2010)

During the celebration held at the residence of the ambassador, Ethiopian Ambassador to the Scandinavian Countries H.E Dina Mufti after welcoming the members of the community and invited guests elaborated on the achievements of Ethiopia by way of democratizing the nation and registering encouraging socio economic progress.

He made a call on Ethiopians to step up their efforts of contribution to the further democratization and development of their county of origin i.e. Ethiopia.

During the occasion four individuals of Ethiopians and Ethiopian origins were recognized and given awards for their extraordinary efforts in informing and motivating the Diaspora Ethiopians about their country of origin to actively participate in the socioeconomic development of the country. There were Mr. Tadesse Gebregziaber from Sweden, Mr. Zewdu Teklu and Mr. Tesfalem Haile from Denmark and Mr. Elias Saboure from Finland. Ambassador Dina handed over the awards to the individuals.

Similarly awards were also given to High school graduates of the Ethiopian family for their successful completion of their education. Madam Lina, the spouse of the Ambassador handed over the awards to the graduates.

Network for Peace in the Horn of Africa, a Civic Organization residing in Stockholm, has awarded a Peace Diploma 2010 to Ethiopian Ambassador to the Scandinavian countries, H.E Ambassador Dina Mufti, (May 31, 2010)

The Organization has organized a conference entitled ”Democratization in the Horn of Africa Processes and Results” from 28 –29, 2010 in Stockholm with a vision to see a new horn Africa that is peaceful, reconciled, democratic and that has good governance.

On the conference, H.E Ambassador Dina has delivered a speech on Ethiopian National Election of 2010 and the Democratization process in Ethiopia in particular and in the Horn of Africa in general.

Scholars from Ethiopia, Sudan, Djibouti, Somalia and Eritrea have also presented different study papers on different topics mainly on peace, development and democratization process in the horn of African countries.

At the end of the conference the Organization awarded the Peace Diploma.

African Missions in Stockholm marks Africa Day (May 26, 2010)

African Diplomatic Missions residing in Stockholm marked Africa Day on 25, 2010 with a call for renewed efforts to intensify the development of Information and Communication Technology in Africa and achieve the objective of a greater access and circulation of knowledge, as well as the creation of new knowledge and its use.

Photo - The cultural stand of Ethiopia by the Ethiopian Embassy during the occasion.

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Ethiopian Government Delegates discussed on wide range of issues with Ethiopians in Sweden,

May 03, 2010

In the afternoon of Sunday, May 02, 2010, Ethiopian Government Delegates conducted very successful meeting with the members of Ethiopian community living in Sweden.

The high level Ethiopian Government delegation led by His Excellency Mr. Nega Tsegaye, State Minister of Foreign Affairs accompanied by His Excellency Ambassador Dina Mufti, Ethiopian Ambassador to Scandinavian Countries, Mrs. Mebrat Beyene, Director of Ethiopian Diaspora General Directorate of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mesganu Arega, Director of Political Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Haimanot Amare, representative of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and Mr. Buruk, representative of the IOM.

During the meeting held in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, the delegates briefed the gathering on various matters of our country.

In the meeting chaired by His Excellency Ambassador Dina Mufti, His Excellency Mr. Nega Tsegaye explained in detail about the current and wide range of issues in Ethiopia.

“The government of Ethiopia is developmental government and executing pro-poor development policies” HE. Mr. Nega Tsegaye said and explained in details the effort and commitment of the government to alleviate poverty and improve the life of the people of the country. Investment has also been presented as the most important tools to bring the country to attain poverty alleviation.

The government has given a priority for capacity building and is mainly exerting a maximum effort to improve and strengthen the capacity of democratic institutions at both federal and regional levels with the experiences taken from various countries including Canada, Germany and India.

His Excellency, among others emphasized the commitment of the government to consolidate efforts towards the establishment good governance, democracy and human rights protections.

Issues related to the up coming Ethiopian national election in May 2010 are also briefed to the audience. His Excellency Mr. Nega said that the May 2010 Election is part of the democratic process of the country and explained the commitment of the government to make the election free, fair, democratic and peaceful.

In his briefing to the large gathering, His Excellency also explained about the significant attainments of the country in the areas of infrastructural developments, schools and universities, health institutions, housing and electrical power generation. His Excellency also urged all Ethiopians and Ethiopian origins to contribute their share at their maximum capacity to serve their country and support the efforts of the government to bring desirable change in the country.

Similarly the gathering also briefed on banking, educations, skill and knowledge transfer, duty free, housing and related issues.

Following the briefing, the audience raised wide range of questions and hot discussion was held. The delegates also responded and explained to the questions forwarded by the audiences. The discussion was concluded with one-minute silence for the memory of those who lost their life with a terrorist acts in Tigray regional state of Ethiopia recently as well as those martyrs who lost their life in defence of democracy, peace and development of the mother land.

News of the day

Ethiopia, Italy sign grant agreement amounting to 6.15 mln. Euros (May 7, 2010)

The governments of Ethiopia and Italy here on Friday signed a grant agreement amounting to 6.15 million Euros.

The main objective of the grant is to improve health and related hygienic conditions of the population in the country.

Finance and Economic Development State Minister Ahmed Shide and Italian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Raffaele de Lutio signed the agreement.

Ethiopia likely to achieve MDGs (April 22, 2010)

UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Ethiopia, Samuel Nyambi said Ethiopia is one of the leading countries, which achieve the MDGs.

During talks with President Girma Woldegiorgis here on Thursday, he said Ethiopia's economy has registered double digit growth.

Nyambi said the economic growth has significantly increased in particular in the construction, infrastructure development, education, and health and agriculture sectors.

He said the economic growth registered in the country indicates leadership competence of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Ethiopian Economy Expected to Grow by over 10 Per cent This Year: Meles (April 13, 2010)

In his nine-month performance report presented to the House of Peoples Representatives here on Tuesday, Prime Minister Meles said the Ethiopian economy is will grow by 10.1 per cent this year.

This shows, he said, the country's economy has shown a 10 per cent average growth for seven years straight.

Meles also mentioned that it was also able to reduce inflation below 10 per cent over the last two years which is beneficial to the larger section of the society especially to low income people.

Inflation has further dropped to 3.9 per cent on average this year, Prime Minister added.

He further said improvement has also been witnessed in the country's export revenue sector.

The amount of export revenue Ethiopia got over the last eight months has increased by 21 per cent.

Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry Signs Agreement With Ethiopia (March 1, 2010)

The Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry President, Sipho Meseleku signed in Addis Ababa on March 1, 2010 an agreement that enabled it receive legal recognition with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign Affairs State Minister, Dr. Tekeda Alemu and Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry President, Sipho Meseleku signed the agreement.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi elected to chair a high-level panel with UK Prime Minister to spur action on climate change (12 February 2010)

Prime Minister Meles of Ethiopia and Prime Minister Gordon Brown of UK will head up a new high-level Advisory Group launched by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on February 12, 2010.

The Advisory Group is intended to mobilize financing swiftly to help developing countries combat climate change according to the Copenhagen Accord reached at December’s United Nations conference.

“There will be an even balance between developing and developed countries” in the new Advisory Group on Climate Change Financing, chaired by Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Mr. Ban announced in New York.

The body’s other members, who will be appointed for 10 months; include President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway, senior ministers and officials from central banks and experts on finance and development, according to a statement issued by his spokesperson.

Embassy News

Delegation led by Seyoum visits Finland, Norway (April 11, 2010)

A delegation led by Foreign Affairs Minister Seyoum Mesfin held a working visit to Finland and Norway.

During its visit to Finland and Norway, the delegation discussed with higher-level officials, members of parliament and the business community in the respective countries on ways to further strengthen existing relations between Ethiopia and the stated countries.

Accordingly, Seyoum held talks with his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb and senior government authorities in the country including Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Väyryen and the Foreign Minister’s Special Representative to Africa, MP Pekka Haavisto on issues related to bilateral relations and international affairs.

Similarly, the delegation held talks with Foreign Affairs Minsiter of Norway, jonas Gahr Store, State Minister of the Environment and International Development Ms. Ingrid Fiskaa and other senior government officials on ways to enhance existing bilateral relations between Ethiopia and Norway.

The delegation also exchanged views with officials of the foreign policy institute, research institutes and company managers in Norway, among others.

The Foreign Affairs Minister Seyoum said during the discussion that Ethiopia is one of the few African countries expected to meet the MDGs.

Somali Regional State awarded Certificate of Recognition to the Ethiopian Embassy in Stockholm (February 16, 2010)

The Somali Regional State of Ethiopia awarded Certificate of Recognition to the Ethiopian Embassy in Stockholm for its valuable contributions for the attainment of good governance and development activities in the Somali region.

The Certificate of Recognition had been handed over to the Ethiopian Ambassador to the Scandinavian Countries, H.E. Dina Mufti, by representatives of the Somali community in Stockholm at the Ethiopian Embassy in Stockholm on February 16, 2010 together with traditional clothes of the people of the Somali Region.

During the occasion, Ambassador Dina said that the Embassy has been working and will continue to work with Ethiopian communities from the region who are living in the Scandinavian countries to participate the development endeavours of the region.

The community leaders also exchanged ideas with the Ambassador on the ways to work closely for further and greater attainment.

Ethiopia participated on the Matka 2010 International tourism Fair (January 25, 2010)

Ethiopia has participated on the Matka 2010 International Tourism Fair that held in Helsinki, Finland from 21 to 24 January 2010. The Ethiopian Consulate in Finland is participated on the fair to promote Ethiopia as tourist destination and as the homeland of world finest Coffee Arabica.

During the fair brochures and cooked Ethiopia organic coffee were served for the spectators for free at Ethiopian stand. Discussion is also held with potential peoples and various group leaders, such as the motorist group, the coffee group, the runner group, the cultural group, the safari group and the historical group, to arrange group trips to Ethiopia in 2010 according to Mr. Elias Sabure the organizer of the Ethiopian stand.

On the Matka International Tourism Fair more than 2000 local exhibitors and 78 Foreign Government Representatives have participated and more than 95 000 people visited the event.