Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed arrived in Rome on Sunday (January 20) for an official visit at the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. The two Prime Ministers held a press conference after their talks which Dr. Abiy described as productive. He said: “The comprehensive discussion which I had with Giuseppe Conte was important to take the bilateral relationship between the two nations to the next level.” He called enhanced cooperation between Ethiopia and Italy in the areas of development, peace, and tourism, and said Italy had agreed to finance the first stage of a feasibility study for a railway to link Addis Ababa to the Eritrean port of Massawa. As Eritrea’s Minister of Information, Yemane Gebre Meskel, tweeted later: “Implementation will depend on feasibility study/concurrence of the parties.” Italy also agreed to support projects to tackle food insecurity of school-aged children and rehabilitate Ethiopian soldiers who returned from Ethio-Eritrea border following their rapprochement.
During his visit, Dr. Abiy paid a courtesy visit to President Sergio Mattarella and expressed his appreciation of the changes taking place in Ethiopia and its role in regional integration. The historic relationship has developed into an excellent, exemplary cooperation in all spheres of economic, political, and development cooperation. Prime Minister Conte visited Ethiopia in October last year; and President Mattarella came to Ethiopia in March 2016. The Prime Minister hailed Ethiopia’s strategic partnership with Italy and called for further strengthening of partnership between the two countries especially in economic and cultural cooperation. President Mattarella expressed his immense appreciation of the Wind of Hope, the Wind of Harmony blowing across the Horn of Africa producing a “new sense of optimism for regional peace and stability.”
Prime Minister Abiy also met separately with the heads of World Food Program (WFP), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) which are all based in Rome. FAO Director General, Jose Graziano da Silva commended reforms being undertaken during the past nine months and their significance for peace, normalcy and development Dr. Abiy welcomed FAO’s work in Ethiopia and highlighted the need to tackle poverty, food security and development in a concerted and synergized manner to realize Ethiopia’s transformation agendas and the Horn region as an integrated economy for holistic regional growth. In his meeting with Gilbert Houngbo, President of The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Prime Minister emphasized the need for strengthening irrigation and food security interventions. IFAD’s support to Ethiopia is centered on the Government’s commitment to the poorest communities through enhancing the productivity of smallholder farmers, pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. They agreed to continue building on collaboration in irrigation and rural financing. In his talks with WFP Executive Director Mr. David Beasley, Prime Minister Dr. Abiy acknowledged the work of WFP and the crucial role it has been playing in supporting food security, nutrition and capacity building.
During his visit to Rome, the Prime Minister visited the Vatican and had an audience with His Holiness, Pope Francis. According to the Vatican, their “cordial talks” emphasized “important initiatives underway for the promotion of national reconciliation and for the integral development of Ethiopia”. The talks also focused on the “role of Christianity in the history of the Ethiopian people”. Dr. Abiy also held talks with the Secretary of State of the Holy See. He visited the Church of St Stephen of the Abyssinians where he was received by Cardinal Berhane Yesus. The church, built in the early 5th CE, is the oldest surviving church in Vatican City.
