Abiy Ahmed confirms attendance at Belt and Road Forum to be held in Beijing

Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed has recently confirmed his attendance at the upcoming second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation to be held in Beijing in April. Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, Tan Jian has confirmed the news of his participation.

China and Ethiopia have been enjoying multifaceted ties that are likely to be further enhanced at the upcoming Belt and Road Forum, spokesperson of the Ethiopia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nebiat Getachew told Xinhua.

"Ethiopia is a strong partner of China in the African continent. Ethiopia's expected attendance at the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation is a further testament to the strong bilateral ties," Nebiat Getachew opined, Xinhua reported.

Ethiopia, which has been cooperating with China on the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, also recently expressed its keen interest to work with more vigour to implement agreements inked between Ethiopia and China. Ethiopia's new Ambassador to China, Teshome Toga Chanaka assured last month to work in priority areas of mutual interest, including the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.

"Ethiopia is more committed than ever to fully apply and accomplish the agreements it has made with China mainly through the Ethiopia-China comprehensive strategic partnership platform, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and the Belt and Road Initiative," Ethiopia Ministry of Foreign Affairs quoted Toga saying last month.

On May 14-15, 2017, the first Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was held in Beijing, attended by state and government leaders of 29 countries. More than 1,600 participants from over 140 countries and 80 international organizations also attended the forum.

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