Ambassador Jemal says direct air links between Ethiopia and Pakistan to boost bilateral relations
Ansar M Bhatti
ISLAMABAD, MAY 5 /DNA/ – Ambassador of Ethiopia to Pakistan Jemal Beker has said the Ethiopian Airline shall start its Pakistan operation from May 8 adding there shall be four flights per week from Addis Ababa to Karachi.
The Ambassador made this announcement during a press conference here at the Embassy.
Ambassador Jemal further said, a high level delegation shall also visit Pakistan on May 9.The delegation shall arrive in Pakistan on the maiden Ethiopian airline flight to Pakistan.
He said the State Minister of Foreign Affairs shall lead the 60 member delegation comprising businessmen, high govt officials etc. He said the State Minister shall also formally inaugurate the Ethiopian embassy in Islamabad on May 11.
The Ambassador, to a question, said that after Karachi the Ethiopian airline may start operations from Islamabad and Lahore. It all depends on the passengers’ load, he added. The ambassador said all efforts shall be made to make this project a sustainable one.
Towards this end he had planned meetings with the tour operators, travel agents in order to inform them about the potential Ethiopia had in various fields. Likewise, he said, since the Ethiopian visa was available online therefore entry to his country was simply no problem.
Jemal Beker Abdula termed the visit of Pakistani business delegation to Ethiopia as Hijra Trade, which was very successful. He said that after the visit of the Pakistani delegation to Ethiopia, he received calls from many African countries including Somalia, Djibouti, and Kenya who showed interest in promoting trade ties with Pakistan. He said that Africa is endowed with great natural resources and close cooperation of Pakistan with Ethiopia would help it get better penetration in the African region for trade and exports.
He further said, Ethiopia has strong economic ties with Turkiye & UAE and Ethiopia wants similar relations with Pakistan. China and India have good presence in Ethiopia and Pakistan should increase its presence in the Ethiopian market to explore the untapped land of Africa.
Many Pakistani products including textiles, pharmaceuticals, cement have great potential in Ethiopia and the business community of Pakistan capitalize on this potential for exports. Jemal Beker said two business forums were also being organized in Karachi and Islamabad to bolster the bilateral trade by strengthening trade and commerce ties between the two countries.
He said the Pakistani business community was keen to increase bilateral trade between the two countries since the ongoing development in Ethiopia’s diverse economic sectors had really impressed them during their recent visit to the capital city Addis Ababa.
Likewise, the business community of Ethiopia also wanted to develop business and trade ties with their counterparts in the country.
On the occasion, the ambassador also congratulated the people of Ethiopia on Patriots’ Victory Day which was being observed in his country today to honour the veterans of the resistance movement against Italy.=DNA
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