Prime Minister holds bilateral meeting with Switzerland
His Excellency Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, today participated in bilateral meeting with Swiss Secretary of State for the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Yves Rossier, at the Swiss Federal Government in Berne, Switzerland.
The Prime Minister alongside Somali Permanent Representative to UN Missions (Geneva), Ambassador Yusuf Mohamed Ismail Bari-Bari, briefed the Swiss Foreign Minister on the current operations against Al-Shabaab, priorities for the Federal Government of Somalia and Somalia’s vision for improving regional economic infrastructure development.
Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed, said: “Somalia is doing well on its path to recovery and rebuilding of the state, we now have a functioning parliament and executive but there is still a long way to go.
“We are fighting and winning against a un-Somali ideology, Al-Shabaab claim to be defending Islam but they are attempting to destroy the religion, our culture, the social fabric of our communities and the economy. We have not finished the fight yet and we will not let up till it is finished.”
The meeting discussed Somalia’s and Switzerland’s ambition to foster a stronger bilateral relationship and support to Somalia. The Swiss Foreign Minister committed to providing technical support to the Federal Government of Somalia. The minister also pledged to examine what further humanitarian support could be provided to the newly liberated areas and announced his plans to visit Somalia later in the year.
“I welcome Switzerland’s bilateral engagement with Somalia, last month they reappointed an Ambassador to Somalia for the first time in 30 years and today we met to discuss how Switzerland can further support Somalia’s recovery.
“There are almost 10,000 Somali diaspora living in Switzerland and we are very keen to engage with the diaspora and encourage those with the right skills to return to Somalia and inject their skills and experience into the Somali government. We are rebuilding our institutions after 23 years and there are many well trained and highly educated diaspora with skills that could greatly help their country and government on its road to recovery,” the Prime Minister said.