SEE Re-Publishes Sisi's Letter to Ethiopian Farmers

By Nawal Sayed

CAIRO, March 4 (SEE) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi wrote a letter to Ethiopian farmers. The letter was published by the Discourse Affairs Magazine in May, 2018. SEE re-publishes Sisi’s letter and reveals messages written between lines.

In the preface of the letter, Sisi conveyed greetings of the Egyptian people and government to the Ethiopian people, noting that “Ethiopians are considered as brothers to the Egyptian people with whom we share spiritual, moral values and a civilization.”

“I’d like to stress the importance of cooperation between our peoples, especially for the best usage of the common water resources in the Nile Basin in a way that will guarantee the aspired development for our peoples, on the basis of Win-Win principles, not harming others,” wrote Sisi.

The Egyptian president's messages written in the letter can be briefed as following:

• Egyptian and Ethiopian farmers share same problems, either in terms of lack of adequate or infrastructure.
• Farmers suffer from the unavailability of technology necessary to increase the agricultural productivity in order to achieve food security and create a fair system for trading in the harvest.

"It's necessary to form a coordinated front to deal with the problems facing us," Sisi stressed.

The president emphasized that the Declaration of Principles Agreement signed between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan in March 2015 regarding the Renaissance Dam project affirms its good-will and the principles governing the relations between the three nations.

“In the same year, for the first time in the history of the two countries, I addressed the Parliament of Ethiopia and reaffirmed our vision to establish strategic relations between the two peoples based on mutual respect and common benefits,” Sisi added.

He indicated that Egypt is looking forward to consolidating long-term strategic partnership relations with Ethiopia based on African fraternity principles and historical ties.

“We believe that relentless work and sincere intentions will lead to the realization of our common goals,” the president noted.

In the Arabic-written letter translated into English by the Magazine’s staff, Sisi asserted that “Egypt will spare no effort to consolidate common interest and mutual cooperation.”

In this context, Egypt endeavored to provide support to the Ethiopians, in the area of capacity building whereby it organized training courses in Egypt for about 400 Ethiopians in different fields.

Moreover, Egypt succeeded to present medical units at Saint Paul and Black Lion Hospitals in Addis Ababa, in the fields of nephrology and kidney disease, digestive system and cardiology.