Daily Times

Exclusive Interview
Conducted By
Farooq Awan

Photos By
Ramzan Mughal

Normally, newly established missions take around a year to get settled in a country, but here we have the first-ever ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to Pakistan, H.E. Jemal Beker Abdula, who within a short span of six months has earned huge respect and appreciation not only within Islamabad’s diplomatic corps but also business community of Pakistan. He can be fairly called a ‘One-Man Army’ who is always on the move for the cause of strong bilateral relations between Pakistan and Ethiopia.

In an exclusive interview with Daily Times, Ambassador Jemal Beker Abdula explained his six-month diplomatic journey in Pakistan which begun with strategy and efforts to establish institutional linkages between Pakistan and Ethiopia. “As soon as I assumed the charge of the ambassador to Pakistan, the first thing I realized that the reason behind the minimal volume of the bilateral trade between the two countries is the absence of institutional linkages.” From that day on, Ambassador Jemal Beker said, he strove to bring two nations closer by ensuring linkages between the two governments and business people.

Both the governments have so far working on many agreements which will be instrumental in increasing political cooperation, economic engagement and people-to-people contacts through tourism promotion. “The bilateral trade between the two countries is minimal and amounts to 78 million US dollars, however, my target is to take it to 200 million US dollars by the end of 2023,” he said, while expressing the belief that this “historic trade delegation to Ethiopia” will altogether change the landscape of the bilateral relations between the two countries.

“We have identified the products which will be exported to my country from Pakistan. Pakistani business community can contribute to the Pakistan’s economic development by exporting rice, pharmaceutical products, medical equipment, sports items and construction material to my country,” he said while highlighting potential of his country in agriculture, agro processing, manufacturing and other sectors. He said it is his advice to the business community of Pakistan to enter into the market of Ethiopia and start importing agricultural products such as coffee, tea, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables at affordable rates.

 He said Ethiopia is on upward trajectory registering a double-digit economy which has transformed the livelihood and well-being of its citizens. It has developed a home-grown economy as a result of the reforms initiated in 2018.

The steps taken to address the bottlenecks for FDI, trade and business services at micro, macro and structural level has started paying dividends especially in five major economic sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, mining, tourism and ICT, he remarked.

Ambassador Jemal Beker said the Government of Ethiopia attaches great importance to the agriculture sector and has taken multiple steps to enhance production and productivity of this sector through technological transformation innovation.

For livelihood, around 80 per cent of population is largely dependent on the agriculture sector which makes 90 per cent of exports and 45 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, he noted, adding taxes and duties on import of more than 500 agriculture items have been abolished which resulted in bumper crops enabling Ethiopia to become exporter of the agricultural products.

“We started export wheat to Kenya, and would like to do the same for Pakistan where the food insecurity is looming large as per the assessment of international organizations,” the ambassador mentioned.

He said 12 agro processing units have been established and linked with the agriculture input which will eventually transform the country and boost the economy.

“Ethiopia is setting example by producing 96.4 per cent of energy from cheapest source i.e. hydro, solar, wind and geothermal energy. Ethiopia has already been exporting clean energy to Djibouti, Kenya and Sudan. Export of the cheapest energy to many other regional countries is underway,” he remarked.

He said Ethiopia is energy tower of Africa hence becoming the manufacturing hub. We have already established multiple manufacturing zones for different industries including textile, pharmaceutical, laser and laser products.

A one-window facility is on the cards where the investors will have all the facilities for import and export under one roof. It will work like a one-stop shop for the investors, he added.

Ethiopia has been offering multiple incentives to the investors who will be exporting the products to other destinations after ensuring their manufacturing in the country.

He said Ethiopia has access to African Continental Free Trade Areas where everything is sold out to every part of Africa. “My country is a gateway to Africa and Pakistani investors can do a good business by investing in Ethiopia.”

Ethiopia is the land of Origin, the Lucy – the human fossil that is believed to be the first human, and also the land of coffee. It is the land of Hazrat Bilal Habshi and King Nejashi. So, visiting the land of origin is like going back to your ancestral land.

My country is also the source of the Nile, the longest river in the world. We have very natural safari which has almost every specie of the animals and our people are very hospitable which makes it the next best tourist destination of the world. Our government is developing new tourist sites and ensuring all-out facilities for the tourists at the existing destinations. Our country has the largest pan-African airline which serves 130 international and 22 domestic destinations operating some 140 aircraft.

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is another major sector in which Ethiopia is making strides with development of technology transformation road map, innovation ecosystem and conducive technology center.

The Ethiopian government believes that the technology is an enabler to the economic growth and transformation. It is currently working with different partners and stakeholders to leverage the ICT for national development.

“My country is endowed with precious metals and minerals, natural gas and oil. Our government has recently identified various areas for mining of those materials and undertaking research in collaboration with international firms.”

He said Ethiopia has been marked as highly potential mining country in Africa. Rules and regulations have been developed for the mining sector which is hugely contributing to the national economy. Special incentives are being offered for the foreign investors who are interested in our mining sector.

“I can assure Pakistan investors that their investment in Ethiopia will be protected by the government and will also have international guarantee as my country is member of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency.” The government of Ethiopia is taking multiple steps to facilitate the foreign investment in our country. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed chairs meeting of the Board of Investment in every two months to address the challenges faced by the investors in our country.

As regards the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Ethiopia, he said the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has opened its Mission in Pakistan last year after revising its embassies in different countries of Europe and Latin America which reflects our government’s commitment towards establishing strong relations with Pakistan through increased bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation.

Ethiopia attaches great importance to advancing the bilateral relationship with Pakistan and the Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has a clear road map to boost the already flourishing bilateral ties between the two countries in diverse areas including economy, education, tourism and culture. Ethiopia and Pakistan established their diplomatic ties in 1958 and Pakistan set up its embassy in Ethiopia in 1973. Both countries have been enjoying the cordial relations since then and working on bilateral, regional and global issues in a remarkable way.

Ethiopia has opened its embassy in Pakistan after 75 years of its independence, which will have its main focus on economic diplomacy, investment, trade, tourism promotion, technological transfer and establishment of the institutional linkages between the two countries.

I would like to make a big announcement regarding the start of the Ethiopian Airline operations in Pakistan as it will be operating four flights a week from Karachi by the end of this month and enable the Pakistanis and Ethiopians to travel to each other countries.

“I also express my gratitude to the people of Pakistan and government for extending support to Ethiopia for non-permanent candidacy in the United Nations. I am also grateful to the Government of Pakistan for standing by Ethiopia in the UN Human Rights Council over the human rights issues in northern part of Ethiopia.”

Both the countries are part of the UN Peace Keeping Mission in Congo, Liberia, Burundi, Somalia and South Sudan which shows convergence of their interests for international peace and security.

“Our people are fighting and dying together for the sake of global peace and security and no nation has rendered sacrifices more than us for the security of world.”

Ethiopia and Pakistan share similarities in many ways as both are heirs of ancient civilizations, influential diaspora and share social, cultural and political values. It has a federal system like that of Pakistan which holds elections at regular intervals.

Above all, Ethiopia is closely working with the government of Pakistan on climate change issues which has recently brought one third of the country underwater and caused massive loss of life and economy.

The government of Ethiopia will extend all-out support to Pakistan on climate financing and building a resilient economy through integration, adaption and technological transfer.

Given the similarities between the two countries in different aspects, there is a marriage of convenience between them which is reflected in the demand made by the heads of both the states at the COP27 for establishment of a climate fund.

At the end, I would like to thank all those countries which have contributed to bring peace and stability in northern part of Ethiopia by bringing all the conflicting parties to the table. The peace agreement recently signed by our government with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front will usher in prosperity and development.

A Career Diplomat

H.E. Jemal Beker Abdula is the Special Envoy and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the FDRE in Islamabad. He holds Degree of Bachelor of Education in English from Haramaya University of Ethiopia besides Master of Arts with Merit in Transformational Leadership and Change from University of Greenwich, United Kingdom. He was appointed as Special Envoy, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in February 2022. Prior to coming to Islamabad, he served as Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the Kingdom of Bahrain. He has also served as State Minister of Innovation and Technology of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Minister Counsellor for Economic Diplomacy at Embassy in Canberra and Director of Middle East in Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia. He also served as Public Diplomacy Communication Officer in Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia; Consular Service Officer in Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia; International Organization Officer in Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia; Conflict Resolution and Community Participation Officer of Somali a Oromia Regional State and Technical Vocational and Training Chief Consultant of Somali Regional State Technical and Vocational Institute.