Official visit to Ethiopia: Statement

Mr President,
Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

First, let me thank you, Mr President, for the warm welcome to your country. The Crown Princess and I are very grateful for the hospitality the President and his wife have shown us.

It is truly great to be here. My late grandfather, King Olav, visited Ethiopia 51 years ago. I am very pleased to be able to retrace some of his footsteps, and to learn more about how our bilateral relationship has evolved over the past decades.

The Crown Princess and I look forward to exploring Ethiopia and highlight the key pillars of our bilateral cooperation in the coming days.

Our strong bilateral relationship is built on longstanding friendship between our two countries. Today our mutual interests cover areas such as combating climate change, managing migration, securing access to education, investing in health, creating jobs and promoting sustainable and inclusive development. During the visit this week we will highlight the broad coverage.

Ethiopia is also an important partner to Norway on the global scene. We share a strong belief in a UN-led world order, and in the importance of seeking joint solutions to shared challenges, such as climate change.

Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals provide an overarching framework for our joint efforts. We also discussed, Mr President, at the signing ceremony we just witnessed, that the next major area of cooperation and partnership between our countries will be private sector engagement.

We are accompanied here in Addis by a large business delegation looking to establish new partnerships and explore new opportunities in the Ethiopian market. Later today we will participate with the President at the High-level Business Forum.

Thank you very much for your attention.