China, Ethiopia sign loan agreement

ADDIS ABABA, Dec. 5 (Xinhua) -- China and Ethiopia on Monday signed two agreements at the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED) here in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Sufian Ahmed, Minister of MoFED, and Zhu Hongjie, Vice President of China Exim Bank have signed the first agreement that enables China to provide about 100 million U.S. dollars to Ethiopia for water projects in Addis Ababa.

Bekalu Zeleke, President of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), and Zhu Hongjie have signed the second agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) with which the Exim Bank agreed to provide a master loan facility of 300 million U.S. dollars.

According to MoFED, the loan will be used for the implementation of various projects planned under Ethiopia's five- year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP).

Zhu has been leading a Chinese Delegation to Ethiopia for a two- day working visit here in the country.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Sufian said China and Ethiopia are enjoying very good relations, especially in trade and investment.

He stated that the China Exim Bank has been providing resources to Ethiopia through different facilities, which Ethiopia is using very efficiently on development projects.

"The Bank has assisted many development projects of ours, especially infrastructure development; and the first long road in Ethiopia was financed by your Bank (China Exim Bank). These projects contribute to the economic development of the country. The agreements we signed today also demonstrate how close your Bank is to assist Ethiopia," said Sufian.

The Minister also commended China for its continuous support to Ethiopia's development endeavors.

He expressed Ethiopia's keen interest to further enhance economic cooperation with China in general and closely work with the China Exim Bank in particular.

Zhu said the Bank has signed various agreements with Ethiopia with a total amount of 11.4 billion RMB (about 1.81 billion U.S. dollars). "Ethiopia has registered rapid economic growth over the last few years and we are satisfied with the cooperation with the country," Zhu said.