BY MENGISTEAB TESHOME
Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn met Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Riyadh yesterday.
During the meeting, the two sides discussed bilateral relations in all fields and ways of developing them as well as regional and international issues.
A number of senior officials from both countries attended the meeting, Kuwait News Agency reported.
The FDRE Foreign Ministry also reported that Prime Minster Hailemariam met with Deputy Premier and Minster of Interior, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif at his palace Sunday.
On arrival at the Riyadh airbase earlier in the day, Prime Minister Hailemariam was received by the crown prince, Riyadh Gov. Prince Faisal bin Bandar, State Minister and Cabinet Member Usaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban, and a number of senior government officials.
Special Aide to the Prime Minister, Ewnetu Bilata, noted the discussion between Hailemariam and the deputy premier mainly focused on economy, trade, investment, terrorism and peace.
The Premier on the occasion called upon Saudi investors to increase their investment in Ethiopia, particularly in agriculture, animal breeding and fattening, trade and leather industry.
According to Ewnetu, the two sides also discussed on ways of teaming up efforts to bring peace, security and stability in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.
Prime Minister Hailemariam also met Commerce and Investment Minister Majid Al-Qassabi, Deputy Minister of Finance Hamad bin Sulaiman Al-Bazei and attended a reception hosted by Ambassador Amin Abdulkadir in his honor, where he met a large number of Ethiopian expatriates in the capital.
The high-level delegation also included Finance and Economic Cooperation Minister Abraham Tekeste, Defense Minister Siraj Fegessa, Prime Minister Special Envoy Ambassador Birhane Gebrekirstos and Premier Fiscal Policy Advisor Sufian Ahmed.
Some 303 Saudi projects are operating in Ethiopia and investment between the two countries has reached 7 billion SR. The projects have created over 58,798 permanent and 189,695 temporary employments.
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