Mr. Zhang Yuebang, Charge de’ Affairs a. i. of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, on behalf of the Chinese Government, handed over 800,000 US Dollars to H.E. Ato. Ahmed Shide, State Minister of Finance and Economic Development as food aid to the Ethiopian Government On April 30th, 2009. This is another grant by China following 30,000 US Dollars donation provided by the Chinese Red Cross Society to its Ethiopian counterpart last month.

At the hand-over ceremony, Mr. Zhang said that this donation is another friendly gesture by the Chinese People to the Ethiopian people and hoped that it could help to relieve the food shortage problem in Ethiopia to some extent. He also expressed great appreciation for the efforts made by the Ethiopian Government in driving Ethiopian economy’s successive growth in recent years, addressing food shortage problem and responding to international financial crisis. Zhang said that owing to the effective measures taken by the Ethiopian Government, the food prices in Ethiopia have dropped down remarkably and economy maintained a good momentum of development. He also spoke highly of the all-around friendly cooperation between China and Ethiopia, saying that Chinese side will continue to do its best to boost the fruitful cooperation between the two countries, encourage Chinese companies to be engaged in the economic development of Ethiopia and provided assistance within its capacity.

Ato. Ahmed Shide said that this generous grant from China showed once again the sincere friendship between China and Ethiopia. On behalf of the Ethiopian government, he expressed heartfelt gratitude to the Chinese Government and Chinese people. He also spoke highly of the fruitful cooperation between the two countries, expressed his appreciation for the role played by Chinese enterprises in Ethiopian economic development, and believed that the Sino-Ethiopian friendship would grow to an even higher stage thanks to the joint efforts.