Ethiopia, Finland Agree to Increase Cooperation
ADDIS ABEBA – President Sahlework Zewde has held talks with her Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto over bilateral and multilateral issues of the two nations.
President Sauli Niinistö’s is on a two-day official visit to Ethiopia starting from Tuesday. He held his first meeting with Sahlework at the national palace and plans to meet Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, later today.
Earlier today, Sahlework and Niinistö discussed bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of common interest between the two countries.
“We have discussed on our bilateral relations and consequently reached into an agreement that the Ethio-Finnish bilateral relation is progressing well based on mutual respect and common understanding and we have agreed to strengthen this cooperation further in areas of common interest,” said president Sahlework.
The two sides have also reviewed the development co-operation between the two countries and observed that, although our two countries have 60 years of official relations, economic cooperation between Finland and Ethiopia is still low.
“In this regard, Mr. President and I agreed that both countries must strive to increase bilateral trade and investment,” Sahlework said.
The president has requested Niinisto to encourage Finnish businesses to invest in Ethiopia.
President Niinisto arrived in Addis Ababa last night for a two-day official visit.
He will deliver remarks at the international conference on climate change and a high-level event on women’s economic empowerment scheduled to take place today.
Moreover, President Niinisto will visit the Finnish Government-funded Hamle 19 Primary School tomorrow.
