Dubai—The President of the Republic of Somaliland H.E Abdirahman Mohamed Abdilahi alias Irro, while attending World Government Summit which is currently underway in Dubia, has said that he is hopeful that the United State of America will be the first country to formally give a recognition to Somaliland. President Irro also revealed that he will sign a historic agreement with Ethiopia before the end of this year. He said that Somaliland is a democratic nation, and at the same time hopes that due to the good governance and leadership, Somaliland will get the recognition it deserves from the world. The Head of State has disclosed that he is expecting to get recognition from the likes of the United Kingdom and the United State of America.
He said: ” Since we are a democratic state, I am hopeful that the world will reward Somaliland. All world countries including the UK and USA, I anticipate that they will give SL the recognition it deserves. I am hopeful in particular that the US will be the first country to formally recognize Somaliland.”
On the other hand, the president talked about the bilateral relations that Somaliland has with neighboring countries and further spoke about the strategic importance of the port of Berbera for the region. He said that the port has been modernized and Ethiopia depends the port of Berbera for its import and export. Irro announced that he will sign a historic agreement with Ethiopia before the end of the year.
DPW CEO who spent 450 million US dollars on Berbera port modernization, the airport and Berbera corridor, has said that the largest market that the the port of Berbera has is Ethiopia. He added that the port has strategic importance for Ethiopia when it comes to t import and export. Somaliland signed MOU with Ethiopia last year in which SL agreed to lease 20 km of its coastline to Ethiopia in order to set up a naval base and in return Ethiopia agreed to grant a formal recognition to Somaliland. The MOU was not officially changed into a binding agreement.
