Russia, Ethiopia to intensify cooperation in mineral development, energy, other areas

MOSCOW. Dec 15 (Interfax) - Ethiopia has demonstrated an interest in geological and mineral development cooperation with Russia, the Russian Federal Agency for Mineral Resources (Rosnedra) said after a meeting of the Russian-Ethiopian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation and Trade, which took place in Addis Ababa. Agency head Yevgeny Petrov was in charge of the Russian delegation to the meeting.

"The Ethiopian side has demonstrated a keen interest in geological survey and mineral development, including gold and battery metal mining and production of hydrocarbons. The heads of Rosnedra institutes [...] made detailed presentations of the capacity of Russian geology, which led to agreements on systemic geological and mineral development cooperation involving Rosnedra and respective companies," the Agency said in a press release.

Energy is another potential area of cooperation, and an upgrade of the Melka Wakena Hydropower Plant with the participation of Russian companies may become a pilot project.

Ethiopia also wishes to develop cooperation in agriculture, healthcare, education and information technologies.

At the end of the meeting, the Russian Red Cross and the Ethiopian Health Ministry signed an agreement on the further operation of a Russian hospital in Addis Ababa, and the text of an intergovernmental agreement on the establishment and functioning of a Russian-Ethiopian biological research center.

The sides agreed to draft a roadmap for the development of trade and economic cooperation and noted that it would be boosted by the Russian government's decision to reopen a Russian trade mission to Ethiopia. The Russian-Ethiopian Intergovernmental Commission will hold its next meeting in Russia in 2023.