The Ethiopian and South Korean government signed a 300-million-U.S. dollar cooperation agreement on Monday. The agreement is aimed at reinforcing and deepening economic collaboration between the two countries reported Xinhua Net.
In an official statement, the Ethiopian Prime Minister’s Office said the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding during the Ethiopian Prime Minister’s two-day official visit to South Korea. The statement followed a meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae In and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali.
The two presided while five agreements were signed. Four of the five are memoranda of understanding on mutual waiver of visa requirements for holders of diplomatic/official service passports; the establishment of a joint ministerial commission; cooperation relating to standardization, certification, conformity assessment, and technical regulation; and environmental cooperation. The fifth happens to be a loan agreement for the establishment of a center of excellence for the Adama Science and Technology University project.
The leaders also agreed on setting up a joint ministerial committee that will meet every two years to broaden their cooperation, focusing on fields such as politics, business, culture, technology, and science.
The Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gedu Andargachew, Minister of Technology and Innovation Getahun Mekuria and State Minister of Finance Admasu Nebebe, signed the memorandum of understandings on behalf of the Ethiopian government.
Signed under the Korea-Ethiopia Economic Development Cooperation Fund, the $300 million agreement will be implemented in 2019 and 2020.
On Monday, Ahmed met with the President of the Export-Import Bank of South Korea Yong Hwan Kim and they both discussed ongoing and potential new support to Ethiopia. The Korea Export-Import Bank currently supports ongoing projects in the East African country with a financial amount that exceeds 600 million U.S. dollars. On the occasion, the two discussed ongoing and potential new support to Ethiopia’s projects.
Abiy Ahmed Ali is the first Ethiopian leader to visit the Republic of Korea in eight years.
