KUWAIT: For thefirst time after seven months as head of mission, Ethiopia's envoy AbdulfatahAbdullahi Hassan sat down for an interview with Kuwait Times. The new Ethiopianambassador to Kuwait presented his credentials to His Highness the Amir SheikhSabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah on Jan 22, 2019. The envoy said he is here tomake the life of every Ethiopian in Kuwait more vibrant, and wants furthercooperation and diplomatic and bilateral ties with Kuwait.
"I wasappointed by the newly-installed government of Ethiopia to assist ourcompatriots and further strengthen our relationships in all aspects," hesaid. The envoy said Kuwait and Ethiopia share a lot of common interests inmany areas including culture, trade and commerce, tourism and manpower, amongothers. According to Hassan, Ethiopia and Kuwait have a long history ofcooperation since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1967.
"Ourdiplomatic relations with Kuwait are very strong. We share lots of issues ofcommon interest. Ethiopia is strategically located in the African region, wheremultinational companies thrive. Geopolitical issues are important for bothcountries, and it is common knowledge to many that when it comes tointernational issues, we share the same stands with Kuwait, such as in theglobal affairs of the United Nations and Afro-Arab regional groupings," hesaid.
According toHassan, bilateral relations are growing steadily and cordially. He also laudedthe wise leadership of His Highness the Amir of Kuwait for the stable politicaland economic climate, not just in Kuwait but also in other GCC countries."We enjoyed the generosity of HH the Amir, especially when he financedseveral infrastructure projects in Addis Ababa including the airport terminal,which turned into reality through the Kuwait Fund," he said.
Fastest growingeconomy in Africa
Ethiopia enjoysbeing labeled as one of the fastest growing economies in Africa - second toNigeria - attributing the growth to the new and wise leadership of EthiopianPrime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Sahle-Work Zewde. "We diversifiedour economy and it's doing well now, thanks to several economic initiativesinitiated by our prime minister. We registered double-digit economic growth inthe last decade or so and we are still growing.
The World Bankhas commended Ethiopia for creating a large number of jobs and opportunitiesfor our people and for welcoming the largest foreign direct investment in thecountry, thanks to several reforms implemented by the new government, not tomention in the telecom sector. We have several industrial parks from which manyof our compatriots have benefitted. We have several international brands thatconsider Ethiopia as their second home," Hassan said.
Kuwaiti investorsto Ethiopia are also growing, from none in the 1970s to around 21 new licensedinvestors in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. "We want toattract more Kuwaiti investment to our market. Ethiopia is now verycompetitive; the good news is that our manpower can attract more and moreemployers than ever before, because they are now being trained and prepared forthe job market," he added.
The volume oftrade between two countries has been increasing as well, despite the fact thatthere is no trade protocol between the two countries. "Before the 1970s,the trade relationship with Kuwait and the balance of trade was in favor ofEthiopia. Recently, however, the situation has changed - the balance of tradeis now in favor of Kuwait. For example, bilateral trade in 2014 totaled $945million, with only $2.86 million for Ethiopia against $942 million for Kuwait.We import 100 percent of our oil and gas products from Kuwait. Ethiopia sendsfirst-class coffee and livestock products to Kuwait. There is a huge disparity,and we hope to balance our trade in the coming years," Hassan said.
Wooing Kuwaititourists
Ethiopia is alsotrying to attract Kuwaiti visitors with its new tourism slogan 'Land ofOrigins' and emphasizing the physical proximity of Ethiopia to Kuwait. Hassansaid the country is rich in natural resources; the climate is cool with anaverage temperature of 22-25 degrees Celsius throughout the year."Geographically speaking, we are 3.5 hours away from Kuwait. Our countryhas been known even before the ancient and biblical eras. We have the best andmost fantastic sceneries, plus several UNESCO natural and cultural worldheritage sites. We are also known as the cradle of humanity, as we areconsidered the very first ancient civilization in the world," he said.
"We are acountry that embraces all cultures and religions, and we are also proud that wewere never colonized by anyone. We refused being colonized - in fact we have avictory celebration every 6th of April to commemorate the bravery of ourancestors when the Italians tried to invade and failed," Hassan said. Hesaid Kuwaitis can visit Ethiopia with visa on arrival. Addis Ababa also hasregular flights to and from Kuwait daily.
Kuwait Timesasked if the Kuwaiti market is open for Ethiopian domestic helpers. "Notyet - we are waiting and renegotiating with Kuwaiti authorities. In the nearfuture, perhaps. We also need to train and update our people and hope we cancome up with a bilateral agreement similar to that signed by the Philippinesand Kuwait. But I want to stress our workforce can provide the best manpowerever - we are training our people so that when they are deployed, they areready and more competitive.
We want Kuwait toknow that Ethiopia is also open to sending skilled and semi-skilled workers andnot just those in the domestic labor sector," Hassan said. Ethiopians inKuwait number around 30-35,000 - around 90 percent of them engaged in domesticwork. Some are engineers, while the rest are in the hospitality business.
By Ben Garcia