On April 3, within the framework of the official visit to Addis-Ababa, Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan met with Markos Tekle Rike, the State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.

Minister Mnatsakanyan highlighted the importance of his official visit to Ethiopia, by emphasizing that the deepening of relations with the African continent and taking practical steps towards strengthening Armenia's presence in the region is one of the government’s priorities.

Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Markos Tekle Rike commended that historically established centuries-old relations between Armenia and Ethiopia create a solid foundation for a present stage deepening and expanding the bilateral multifaceted cooperation. In this context, the Foreign Minister of Ethiopia particularly underlined the historical role of the Armenian community in the modernisation of Ethiopia.

The Foreign Minister and State Minister of Ethiopia emphasized the mutual readiness to take joint practical steps towards utilizing the existing potential for more active political dialogue and active cooperation in the spheres of mutual interest. Both sides highly appreciated the effective cooperation established in international fora, highlighted the importance of conducting sectoral consultations and expanding the legal framework.

While presenting the priorities of Armenian Government's reform agenda, Minister Mnatsakanyan highlighted the spheres of high technologies, innovation and creative education, by considering them as a plausible component of the Armenian-Ethiopian bilateral agenda. With this regards, the Foreign Minister underlined that it is not by coincidence that representatives of the leading IT companies in Armenia are included in the delegation, and the latter gives a good opportunity to hold substantive discussions with African partners and outline mutually beneficial future cooperation.

The parties exchanged views on a number of international and regional issues. Minister Mnatsakanyan briefed his interlocutor on the recent developments in Nagorno-Karabakh peace process as well as the approaches and position of Armenia on the conflict settlement.

At the end of the meeting, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and Markos Tekle Rike signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Bilateral Cooperation between the Foreign Ministry of Armenia and the Foreign Ministry of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which, according to Minister Mnatsakanyan, opens new prospects for deepening cooperation between the two Foreign Ministries.