Ethiopia: Dr. Tedros Holds Discussions With Members of the Ethiopian Diaspora in Washington D.c

Foreign Minister, Dr. Tedros, held discussions with members of the Ethiopian Diaspora community in Washington D.C on Sunday (29 April). The minister briefed representatives of the diaspora on the current socio-economic and political developments in Ethiopia.

The Minister pointed out the fact that the GTP had already reached the halfway point in its implementation period and that the majority of its associated projects were on track. Hence, he explained that Ethiopia had registered promising results in its goal of addressing its development challenges through structural transformation.

Regarding the macroeconomic development of the country, the Minister said that the average economic growth of the country since the introduction of the GTP had reached 10.5%, in line with government plans. As a result of a variety of fiscal and monetary measures taken by government, inflation had decreased to single digits, 7.6%, which had contributed greatly to the stability of the economy, he said.

Dr. Tedros also explained the fact that the export sector had registered encouraging growth along with the domestic savings which had now reached 16.4% as compared to 5.2% in 2010. Foreign direct investment had also experienced growth while agricultural productivity had continued to increase in line with GTP targets, he added. The Minister highlighted that the education and health sectors were where the most significant results had been registered thus far.

He reiterated that the government was working very hard to strengthen small and medium enterprises with the aim of creating more jobs for the younger generation. He also cited the construction of the country's mega projects such as fertilizer and sugar factories, railway infrastructure and power generation projects as another method by which to address youth unemployment and development. He particularly cited the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam as important to the country's economic future.

The Grand Renaissance Dam, he explained, would immensely contribute to the achievement of the GTP by generating an anticipated six thousand megawatts of electricity out of the eight thousand megawatts expected during the GTP period.

While assuring participants that Ethiopia was on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, the Foreign Minister called upon all Ethiopians, irrespective of their political differences, to contribute to and support the country's development endeavours.

He also highlighted that Ethiopia's foreign policy had successfully contributed to improved peace and security in the country and the region at large as its primary focus was poverty eradication. He underscored that Ethiopia had been waging a dual-track approach to securing peace in the region and indeed in the entire continent through the attainment of internal peace.

In reference to points raised by participants during the interactive session, regarding administrative and substantive issues, the Minister urged the Ethiopian Diaspora community at large to actively engage in the resolution of problems through dialogue and to be solution oriented in their disagreements.

He remarked, "it is perfectly healthy to have differences in opinion, but what I find troubling is when people who claim to love their country stand against its journey towards comprehensive and sustainable development in order to advance their own political agendas... political differences should not be a barrier to dialogue and engagement in our country's development plans".