Ethiopia hopes to attract more investments from S. Korea
ADDIS ABABA, July 7 (Yonhap)
--Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said Thursday that hisgovernment is seeking to attract more investments from South Koreanbusinesses in a bid to create jobs for youth and industrialize thenation's agriculture-based economy.
In an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency days beforePresident Lee Myung-bak arrives here for the first-ever visit to AddisAbaba by a South Korean president, Zenawi said the visit is "veryimportant not only for Ethiopia, but also for the whole of thecontinent."
"We would like to see more South Korean private investment inagriculture, in manufacturing, (and) in mining," the prime ministersaid, noting that Ethiopia is trying to benchmark South Korea, which waspoorer in the 1960s than many African nations but transformed itselfinto one of the world's most dynamic economies.
"We tried to learn from the experience from South Korea. So forme, South Korea is not just an old friend of Ethiopia, it is also anexample for us and for Africa of how to fight poverty and develop in asuccessful fashion," Zenawi said.
"I think there are many opportunities for investment," Zenawisaid. "We can benefit from Korean expertise and technology andinvestment by Korean companies" in the areas of electricity, renewableenergy resources and information technology.
Zenawi hailed President Lee for playing a key role in formulating aset of principles and guidelines to help the Group of 20 major economieswork collaboratively with developing nations for shared growth.
The so-called "Seoul Development Consensus" was announced at theend of the G-20 summit hosted by South Korea last November. Ethiopia wasone of five special guests for the Seoul summit, and Zenawi attendedthe gathering.
"We, Ethiopia, are really highly appreciative of the SeoulDevelopment Consensus because it gives Africa a new opportunity fordevelopment," the prime minister said.
President Lee "is now coming to Ethiopia as one of the keyarchitects of the Seoul Development Consensus, which is of hugesignificance to Ethiopia and Africa," Zenawi said.
"Because of these stories, I think the South Korean president'svisit is not only historic, but also of great significance to Ethiopiaand to Africa," Zenawi said.
Ethiopia is the last leg of the three-nation tour by President Leeto the African continent. South Korea has vowed to continue deepeningties with African nations as it seeks to widen access to theresource-rich continent.
With its strategy of actively attracting foreign investments,Zenawi said, Ethiopia's economy has achieved double-digit annual growthover the past eight years and could maintain the growth rate over thenext decade.
"We can maintain this for another 10 years. If we do that, then wewill become a lower middle-income country in 10 years," Zenawi said.
President Lee's visit to Ethiopia will include cooperation talkswith Zenawi, a visit to a monument commemorating the country'sparticipation in the 1950-53 Korean War and a speech at Addis AbabaUniversity. Lee also plans to visit two villages for volunteer work.
Ethiopia sent thousands of troops to help South Korea repel invading troops from North Korea during the Korean War.