Malawi and Ethiopia held bilateral talks on Monday and Tuesday in order to strengthen the relationship between the countries and discuss issues that will help their economies.
Among other issues, the two countries discussed long-term solutions to the problem of Ethiopian migrants who illegally enter Malawi when going to other countries.
The two nations also discussed issues of infrastructure, diaspora remittances, trade and security.
Speaking during the opening of the two day session of the Malawi-Ethiopia Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation on Monday, minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation Francis Kasaila said a bilateral relationship with Ethiopia is beneficial as it will tackle a lot of areas helpful for both countries.
“We have four clusters that we are going to get into, clusters on diplomatic issues, security, trade and finance and these are the issues we want to discuss and see how we can benefit from that,” said Kasaila
He added that Ethiopia is doing well in terms of the leather industry as well as diaspora remittance as they are financing a lot of the infrastructure through the diaspora community.
According to Kasaila, leather products present an opportunity for Malawi and the country can also do well in the leather industry as the potential is already there.
On his part, Director of General Affairs and Cooperation in Ethiopia, Matasebia Tadesse said his country is ready to formalise a cordial and practical relationship that will span many decades.
