NEWS RELEASE

Monday, July 26th, 1999

ETHIOPIA ALONG RIGHT TRACK, BRITISH PARLIAMENTARIANS SAY

The British Parliamentary Delegation that was on a working visit here since the beginning of the week said yesterday that Ethiopia is a beautiful and rich country with enormous possibility for investment as well as a still untapped potential for tourism.

During a press conference they held here at the Sheraton Addis with local and foreign journalists, delegation members noted that Ethiopia is proceeding in the right direction in all her development endeavours which deserve help. 'You have a rich history with only a recent democratic practice and nobody expects to see a complete transformation and the society to enter into a fully open democracy of the kind we experience in Europe over night,' Mr John Austin, head of the delegation pointed out.

The parliamentary group indicated that unless the international community helps tackle the issue of debt, the development efforts of the government which Ethiopia desperately needs may be seriously hampered.

Speaking of the Ethio-Eritrean conflict, the group noted that it was unfortunate to see the former allies who together toppled the Derg regime engaged in a military confrontation which will not benefit either country. 'Maybe  we can assume the agreement reached recently during the Algiers OAU summit will bring the two countries together through successful negotiations,' the parliamentarians indicated.

The group told journalists that they had talks with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and other senior government officials on a number of issues ranging form economic development to political and social issues.

The group also had the opportunity to speak to peoples in non-governmental organisations, civic societies, industrialists, the civil service and commercial concerns from Europe who are working here.

The British All-Party parliamentary group left Ethiopia yesterday.