Reflecting New Delhi's increasing engagements with Africa, India and Ethiopia on Wednesday reviewed bilateral ties during the second Joint Commission Meeting headed by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Ethiopian counterpart Workneh Gebeyehu here.
"The discussions focused on building closer cooperation in areas of defence cooperation, lines of credit, human resource development, capacity building, trade and investment, cultural exchanges and enhancing people to people contact," the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
"India reiterated its commitments towards development partnership with Ethiopia.
"The two sides also exchanged views on issues of mutual interest at regional and multilateral levels including cooperation at the United Nations and other international organisations," it said.
India-Ethiopia bilateral trade in 2016 stood at $1.37 billion, of which India's exports to Ethiopia were $1.30 billion and imports were $68.4 million, according to figures provided by the External Affairs Ministry.
An MoU between the Foreign Service Institute of India and the Foreign Service Training Institute of Ethiopia was signed between the two countries after the conclusion of the meeting.
Indian companies are among the top three foreign investors in Ethiopia.
There are over 540 Indian companies in Ethiopia with licensed investment of over $4 billion of which about $2 billion is estimated to be on the ground, according to figures provided by the External Affairs Ministry.
--IANS
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