China, Africa partnership benefits the global community, says Ethiopia Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen
Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister who doubles up as the Foreign Minister has today August, 18, 2022 has partaken a virtual meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Coordinators.
The purpose of the meeting was to evaluate the status of the execution of the decisions made at the 8th FOCAC Ministerial Conference, which was held in Dakar, Senegal, earlier in November 2021.
“The impact of the China-Africa partnership on global governance, diplomacy, and the economy extends beyond China and Africa’s borders and benefits the entire global community,” Demeke said.
He emphasised that the influence of recent activities happening in the world should be considered in the FOCAC action plan.
China state councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Senegal Foreign Minister Aissata Tall Sall presided over the meeting.
The 8th FOCAC Ministerial Conference’s programs, includes one involving a uniform framework for debt treatments that is essential to ensuring Africa’s access to financial resources.
All those issues were also highlighted by the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister as requiring prompt attention and action.
“Without increased trade and FDI, our efforts to mobilize more finance, create decent jobs, boost exports, build manufacturing capacity, and transfer technology would suffer,” Demeke stated.
He thanked China for organizing the conference on the Horn of Africa’s peace, security, governance, and development and reaffirmed Ethiopia’s commitment to putting the conference’s recommendations into practice.
For his part, China’s foreign minister said that the nation strongly backs African development in line with the ideals of South-South Cooperation.
“China will contribute to the expansion of Africa’s representation in multilateral forums, including the United Nations (UN) Security Council, while emphasizing the principle of non-interference in domestic affairs and the One China policy,” Wang Yi reiterated.
