Australia appoints new ambassador to Ethiopia

SYDNEY, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Australia on Wednesday appointed Mark Sawers as Australia's next Ambassador to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, with concurrent responsibility for Australia's relations with the African Union and non-resident accreditation to Djibouti.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Sawers was a career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade ( DFAT) and until recently, was the director of the East Asia Summit and Regional Forums Section in Canberra.

He has previously served overseas as High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam, as DFAT Adviser to the Commander of the International Stabilisation Force in Timor Leste and as First Secretary, later Consular in our mission to the United Nations in Geneva.

"Australia enjoys warm bilateral relations with Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa and one of the world's fastest growing economies," Bishop said in a statement.

"The relationship is strengthened by Australia's Ethiopian-born community which has grown steadily to about 8,500. Ethiopia opened an embassy in Canberra in December 2013."

Bishop said Sawers will work to advance Australia's cooperation with the African Union on global issues, including peace and security, trade and investment and development cooperation.

"The African Union is playing an increasingly important role in international affairs, including in Somalia and South Sudan. Australia has actively engaged in addressing security challenges such as these through its membership of the U.N. Security Council in 2013-14."

Bishop said Australia is expected to provide 186.9 million Australian dollars (169.5 million U.S. dollars) in development assistance to sub-Saharan Africa in 2014-15, focused on promoting economic growth, trade and job creation, in particular through investments in the extractives and agriculture sectors.

She said Australia will also provide around 500 Australia Awards scholarships to Africa in 2014.

Source:  globalpost.com