Addis Ababa, October 6, 2024 (FBC) – “One of the pillars of BRICS is politics and security. It is one of the potential areas that we will look into with our cooperation with the Russian Federation. … So our collaboration with BRICS and Russia in peace and Security of Marine security of the coastal area is very important,” new Ethiopian Ambassador to Moscow, Genet Teshome, told Sputnik Africa.
As a recent member of BRICS, Ethiopia aims to leverage its membership to attract investment, increase trade volume, and strengthen economic ties with BRICS countries, especially Russia, the diplomat said. He highlighted the potential for increasing trade volume and attracting Russian investors to establish economic zones or industrial parks in Ethiopia.
With the upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, in late October, Ambassador Genet expressed Ethiopia’s active engagement in the group’s processes and expectations for a successful summit. He emphasized Ethiopia’s commitment to participating in the New Development Bank and contributing to the group’s overall agenda.
Speaking about urban development, Ambassador Genet acknowledged the ongoing renovations and redevelopments in Addis Ababa and other major Ethiopian cities. He expressed a keen interest in learning from the urban planning and development experience of Moscow.
“From Russia and from Moscow we can learn a lot because, Moscow is a city of, almost 900 years old. So it is a very planned and well-organized city,” he stated, emphasizing the importance of smart and sustainable city planning for the well-being of residents.
Commenting on the opening of Sputnik’s regional office in Ethiopia, Ambassador Genet stressed the importance of diverse media sources in a multipolar world.
“Having different media sources would make audiences able to get adequate information of different sources,” he said. “It will be good that the other side of the story will be told… I think it is also good to have the balanced information. In that I think Sputnik would play a very important and positive role.”