Addis Ababa, Feb.17(ENA)--The high level Ethiopian delegation led by Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin paid official visit to Japan from February 11 to 15, 2003.

The Ethiopian delegation during its stay in Japan held talks with the Foreign Minister of Japan and senior officials of that country including presidents of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the country's foreign trade organization as well as CEOs of various business organizations.

With the stated officials, the Ethiopian delegation held fruitful discussions on the Ethio-Japan bilateral economic cooperation as well as on ways of bolstering trade ties.

The delegation made its presence at a forum organized by various Japanese organizations and gave briefings about the investment and business atmosphere in Ethiopia.

Concerning the economic cooperation, the foreign ministers of the two countries signed a free grant agreement amounting to one Billion Yen.

The Japanese government also pledged to provide Ethiopia with emergency relief assistance worth one billion Yen.

Japan has been the principal development partner of Ethiopia in providing project and technical assistance.

The Addis Ababa - Goha Tsion trunk road rehabilitation project, which is part of the Japanese overseas development assistance to Ethiopia, is nearing completion.

Japan is going to send a team of experts soon that will study the extension of the trunk road rehabilitation project from Goha Tsion to Debre Markos.

The Japanese authorities told the Ethiopian delegation that Japan would continue its development and technical assistance while various Japanese enterprises expressed willingness to buy Ethiopian coffee.

The Japanese authorities also told the Ethiopian delegation that ways would be facilitated to open Japanese markets for Ethiopian products without quota and tax-free.

The Ethiopian delegation made a demand that Japan increases free scholarship for Ethiopian students, a matter the Japanese authorities agreed to consider.

Ethiopia would take part in the Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD III) to be held in Tokyo from September to October this year. Addis Ababa will host the TICAD to be held from March 3 to 4.

The high level Ethiopian delegation returned home later on last Saturday.

(END)