Addis Ababa, 09 June 2014 (ECA) - The Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa paid an official visit to the Republic of Djibouti from June, 6-8, accompanied by the Ambassador of Djibouti to Ethiopia, Mohamed Idriss Farah. During the two-day official visit, the Executive Secretary held several meetings with high-level Government Officials, including the Prime-Minister of Djibouti, Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Finance and Economy, Ilyass Moussa Dawaleh, the Minister in charge of Commerce in the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Hassan Ahmed Boulaleh; and the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Ali Yacoub Mahamoud.
While on a tour of the Ports of Djibouti and Doraleh, the Executive Secretary met with the President of the Djibouti Ports Authority and Free Zone, Aboubaker Omar Hadi. He also took the opportunity to meet with the UN Country Team in the Country, chaired by the interim UN Resident Coordinator, Robert Watkins.
The high-level government officials congratulated the ECA’s support to the country, namely on issues of transformative economic strategies, good governance and related technical services with regard to integration within the Ministry of Finance; as well as planning of the country’s five-year national development program based on the “Djibouti Vision 2035”. The meeting learnt that Djibouti is aiming to expand its role in regional trade beyond its major partner, Ethiopia to include South Sudan in the near future.
Discussions focused on the need to develop sound statistics and bolster the country’s national accounts system. This, it was agreed, would enable the country to engage in more strategic economic planning. They also noted that Djibouti’s economic growth mirrors the rest of the continent and is neither transformative nor inclusive.
Mr. Lopes highlighted the need for professional training, especially in the realm of job creation and service provision. In the same vein, the Interim Resident Coordinator mentioned that UNDP in Djibouti is working on boosting professional training in the area of trade and services.
He reiterated the ECA’s technical support to Djibouti, especially in building economic partnerships and enhancing regional integration and exhorted the UN Country Team to support Djibouti in strategizing its statistical system.
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