GADARIF, Eastern Sudan, December 6, 2007 – Ethiopia and Sudan Today inaugurated the construction of highway to link the two countries and to promote trade and economic exchange in the region.

Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir and Ethiopian Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi inaugurated at Doka twon the Gadarif-Doka–Gallabat-Matama highway connecting Sudan and Ethiopia. They also inaugurated Galabat electricity project.

The construction of the 156 km-long section was executed by an Egyptian constructor. The project has cost 30 million USD, 90% of which was from a grant provided by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD) and 10 pct by the Sudanese Government.

Underscoring the strategic and deeply rooted relations between the two countries, President al-Bashir said this road aims to promote economic exchange and to boost existing social ties between the two countries.

Prime Minister, Zenawi, who hailed the bilateral relations between the two countries, said this route comes as part of the ongoing cooperation between the two countries.

Despite the tension in the joint border because of farmers disputes or the sporadic activities of the armed Ethiopian opposition, officials in the two countries believe that such joint projects would help to overcome the potential tension in the region and would ease the divergence between the two leadership over Somalia.

Since 2004, Ethiopia and Sudan have built a major highway connecting Ethiopia’s northern town of Matama with Port Sudan through Sudan’s Gedarif town.

Landlocked Ethiopia actually plans to construct different routes to the sea, as the route of Mombasa, as alternative ports due to a dispute with Eritrea over the border. Ethiopia also managed to improve relations with Djibouti and the Somali enclave of Somaliland.

Source: Sudan Times