The first meeting of the Somalia-Ethiopia Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) took place on Thursday in the capital, Mogadishu, and was preceded by a session of senior government officials from the two neighbors, which went on the 5th and 6th of September.

An agreement on trade was reached at the outset of the meeting, which is viewed as a fresh start for expanding all areas of mutual benefit.

At the JMC meeting, H.E. Mr. Salah Ahmed Jama, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Somalia, made a statement in which he expressed his country’s willingness to deepen its bilateral ties with Ethiopia on the basis of mutual respect in order to foster growth and seize opportunities that will benefit the two peoples of the two nations. He noted that the Joint Committee’s first meeting in Mogadishu was a step in the correct approach toward the enrichment of the two countries’ populations.

During the meeting, H.E. Mr. Demeke Mekonnen Hassen, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, gave a speech in which he expressed his gratitude for the warm welcome he and the official delegation received while in Mogadishu and stated that the relations between Ethiopia and Somalia, which is centered on political and security issues, needs to be expanded to include areas of cooperation that are more beneficial and prosperous for the peoples of the two brotherly countries.

H.E. Demeke Mekonnen praised the efforts of His Excellency the President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Dr. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, in battling the Al-Shabaab terrorist group which is affiliated to Al-Qaeda as a decisive step towards ensuring lasting peace and security, revealing that Somalia and Ethiopia share culture and high values that will always be an eternal, unbroken bond, and emphasizing the significance of fostering people-to-people relations by exploring new cooperative avenues which is a natural extension of this historical tie, expressing the Ethiopian government’s continued commitment to facilitating and enhancing all aspects of cooperation between the two countries.

Source: Somali National News Agency