KSA to employ 30,000 Ethiopian labourers
“Well trained” staff to aid projects
Saudi Arabian officials have requested that around 30,000 laborers from Ethiopia, including drivers and technical staff, are sent to work in the Kingdom as part of a cooperative trade agreement with the African nation.
The announcement was made by Ethiopian deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, Hallemariam Dessalegn, during a state visit to the Kingdom.
In an interview with the Saudi Gazette at the Jeddah Conference Palace Dessalegn said Ethiopian officials will make sure all workers deployed to the Kingdom are well trained.
Discussing the trading environment between the two countries, Dessalegn confirmed officials from both countries are to sign three agreements for the promotion of livestock and agriculture; protection of investment; and avoidance of double taxation.
Dessalegn also said he believes the environment in Ethiopia – where US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel this month to discuss trade, development and other issues with the government – is conducive to investment; listing mining, agriculture, tourism, construction and real estate as “huge investment opportunities”.
Saudi Arabia, is among the top investors in Ethiopia, with Dessalegn reporting Saudi businessmen have invested about 2 billion Saudi Riyals in the country’s agriculture.
The deputy prime minister also said that they are working together on a dam project to serve the requirements of Egypt and Sudan, which will have a capacity to produce 5,200 megawatts of electricity.
