Ethiopia and Kenya held the Joint Ministerial Commission meeting in Addis Ababa emphasizing the need to deepen bilateral ties, Ethiopian state media said.
Speaking at the event, Ethiopia's Director General for African Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Fiseha Shawel, said that Ethiopia considers the joint ministerial meeting as a significant development in the vector.
"Ethiopia and Kenya are bounded by geography, culture, linguistic affinities and many more bonds, which are the basis to further deepening the already existing cooperative relationship between our two countries," the diplomat noted.
He reaffirmed Ethiopia's commitment to work with Kenya on issues of peace and security, development and cooperation for the benefit of both peoples, mentioning common challenges between the countries such as terrorism, human trafficking and the movement of counterfeit goods.
For his part, Moi Lemoshira, Director General, Foreign Service, Political and Diplomatic Affairs of Kenya, said that the two countries are bound by historical ties and people-to-people interaction, according to the Ethiopian state media.
"The changes in the regional and global environment demand the engagement of Ethiopia and Kenya for regular interaction as we build our partnership at the bilateral level, regional and at continental level, but also internationally," he pointed out.
Lemoshira added that the Kenyan delegation attended the meeting mainly to review the status of the relations with Ethiopia and to "evaluate the implementation of the MOU of bilateral arrangements the two countries have signed so far."
This year, Ethiopia and Kenya are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations on June 26, 1964. Ethiopia opened its embassy in Nairobi in 1964 in the presence of Haile Selassie I, the last Emperor of Ethiopia, and the then-Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta.