Ethiopia, China have room for further cooperation: minister

Ethiopia and China have been cherishing robust bilateral relationship and have to further strengthen cooperation on areas that haven't been not touched, Redwan Hussien, Ethiopian Minister of Government Communication Affairs Office, said on Monday.

The minister told Xinhua that Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia, who is also Chairperson of the African Union, has recently made fruitful visit to China in which he discussed a number of issues including bilateral, multilateral and global issues with the Chinese leadership. Desalegn arrived in China on June 12 for a five-day official visit, and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

"The relationship between Ethiopia and China has been very robust. And we have been enjoying the multi-faceted relationship that has existed for long," said Redwan.

The leaders of two countries have reaffirmed their commitment to furthering this relationship on areas of trade and investment including light manufacturing, developing industrial zones and infrastructure, he said. The Ethiopian government is committed to further developing economic zones, especially industrial zones, and thus needs expertise and cooperation.

They (leaders) pledged to further identifying these cooperation areas and working together to find expertise and other assistances in this regard, he said.

Another focus was on infrastructure development, basically on railways, energy, and also telecom areas, he said, adding that has to do with the access to capital, particularly loan, technology transfer, and local capacity building. "They have agreed to further the existing commitment that they have been engaged in," he stated.

In terms of the media sector, he said Ethiopia desires to cooperate with China for experience sharing towards developing national capacity.

"China has robust media expertise and also institutions; the Ethiopian government is also committed to broadening its wider spectrum in enriching the media sector," he said.

Ethiopia is to learn from the Chinese experiences about how to develop the national capacity by having a big and effective media in Ethiopia, noted Redwan.

He also said Beijing and Addis Ababa have also discussed ways of further strengthening the people-to-people relations and party- to-party relations between EPRDF of Ethiopia and Communist Party of China.

Redwan said there is still a lot to be done to push forward the bilateral relationship and enhance cooperation in the future. "The future is to broaden and deepen the areas that they have agreed upon and also to have a continuous evaluation and increase areas which have not been yet touched upon," he said.

The two countries have been trying to forge their relationship further, foster the positive elements and also touch upon the areas where they have to strengthen. "A lot is yet to do, though there are positive signs that a long journey is awaiting ahead," he added.

According to the official, the two governments have also discussed global climate change as well as fight against terrorism and piracy, which threat the international trade and investment as well as the interests of both countries and also Africa.