President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Sahlework Zewde, on Monday, this week, opened the 6th year and 3rd tenure of the joint session of the two houses: House of Peoples' Representatives (HPR) and House of Federation (HoF)
Addressing the joint session and delivering the opening speech, the President has raised the core events including major achievements registered and challenges encountered the country during the last year regarding social, economic, and political streams. Besides, the President has mentioned some of the major goals of the current incumbent plans to achieve in the current fiscal year.
The president mentioned that the nation in all streams has been going through numerous challenges. However, the country has also used those challenges as opportunities in order to achieve tangible and promising results. As the nation has encountered with multiple of problems, it also proved that there is still a way to resolve and change the scenario as the saying goes; "There is light at the end of the tunnel".
The image of Ethiopia in the eyes of the world has been an icon of independence. The nation has also played a vital role in the black people's movement to make themselves free from the shackles of slavery and independence, Sahlework reminded.
President Sahlework Zewde has also discussed about the ongoing issues in the country. Extreme views and situations seem to unable to live together by overcoming the differences made the nation dive into conflicts in many ways that resulted in paying unnecessary sacrifice.
The realization of the long- waited national dialogue will be effective in the current year, as to the President. "The national dialogue is a tool to narrow our differences," she said. It will also be inclusive and it will include all segments of the people. In order to build a nation that fits all, we all should be engaged in all circumstances to realize the nation we want.
The President called all Ethiopians and responsible bodies to work on the common grand narratives and commit themselves to be the part of national consensus so that it will be suitable to build stable state and a government accepted by the people. Working on repairing the fractures and narrow the differences among us are also the key to put the country on solid foundation. Drawing lessons from developed nations that have realized their growth through compromising their differences, Ethiopia's past should not be an obstacle for the prosperity and development ambition that we pursue, she said.
Furthermore, President Sahlework said the nation should work tirelessly on crafting a shared narrative to the sought state building. Ethiopia has now embarked on a far-reaching reforms and prosperity journey that will ensure the benefits of the entire people.
In the past few years, as to the President, the nation has been at war in different fronts. However, the government has exerted its maximum effort to settle the conflicts by making itself the part of the solution. To this end, the parties that have been involved in the war, especially in the northern part of the country, have come to the discussion table to resolve their differences. In this way, bringing the issue to the African Union- led brokering; Ethiopia proved that African problems indeed need African solution.
In its long history, the country has managed to go through a number of problems and fought back to survive from those tides. Such victories have become real because the people of the nation stood in unison to defend the enemies of the nation.
In the same vein, the President has also mentioned the major economic challenges as well as the tangible achievements and steps taken to curb those problems. Sahlework again highlighted the nation's progress in the agricultural sector as the nation start exporting wheat for the first time in its history. In addition, the President noted the ongoing effort to increase production and productivity in other crops like rice and maize.
Focusing on economic achievements of the last fiscal years, Sahlework mentioned that though the nation has been gone through multiple challenges, Ethiopia still secured a 7.5% of economic growth in the last fiscal year. This shows the home grown economy has changed challenges to opportunities and produce tangible results. On the other hand, in the last fiscal year, the service sector was expanded by 7.8%, while tourism posted encouraging gains despite challenges, Sahlework highlighted.
Speaking of resources, the President mentioned that the country is blessed with untapped natural resources that can have an important share in the overall development of the nation. "Step by step, we are transforming from single sector to multi-sector development," she added.
According to the president, over 3.5 million new jobs need to be created due to the rapid economic growth and increasing of job seekers year after year. As a result, some 9.15 million jobs will be created over the coming three years. Job opportunities will also be facilitated to five hundred thousand citizens in five overseas countries, she disclosed.
Based on the President's speech, Ethiopia has registered incredible diplomatic progress that can still be increasing. Ethiopian diplomacy is coming out of international pressures and returning to regular diplomatic relationship. To achieve such results, the government has given special attention in order to work on improving multifaceted ties including the political relationship with neighboring nations and trade bonds.
As to the President, Ethiopia has commenced various bilateral and multilateral diplomatic activities on various issues regarding the international and regional concerns. The nation's long- rooted diplomatic history across the globe is the main reason to the recent diplomatic achievements of the nation. For Ethiopia, becoming a member in the BRICS bloc is a national glory, and it definitely lifts the nation's acceptance at the international arena.
Sahlework further elucidated that, BRICS membership will stimulate the socio-economic sector and creates opportunity for investment. Such diplomatic acceptance will also have significant impact so as to widen Ethiopia's market options and strengthen cooperative frameworks. Ethiopia, through its diplomatic acceptance, will work to ascertain Africa's interest at multilateral arenas.
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Talking about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) or Abbay Dam, President Sahlework elaborated that the civil work construction of the dam is expected to be completed during the current fiscal year. The 4th round filling of the dam was conducted successfully. The President congratulated all Ethiopians for their contribution to the successes in the construction of GERD.
The president said that the construction of GERD has reached more than 90% indicating the fact that GERD is vital to realize Ethiopia's prosperity. GERD is not only the source of electric power. Rather, the project is a means of tourism and water resources which are important for the environmental protection. According to the President, those ongoing negotiations on GERD will be continued in a way that doesn't affect the rights of Ethiopia to develop and use its natural resources. It is practically proven that GERD will never harm the riparian countries, Sahlework addressed.
"The dam is a project that realizes Ethiopia's development demand and ensures equal utilization of common natural resources," the President added.
The opening ceremony was attended by ambassadors of various countries, representatives of international institutions, religious fathers, prominent personalities and senior government officials including Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD).
Editor's Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
