Tigray high level delegation Successful Public meeting in Oakland, Bay Area – 13 Aug 2016

Tigray high level delegation Successful Public meeting in Oakland, Bay Area – 13 Aug 2016

After a Warm reception and Introduction by the host, the visiting delegation presented salient achievements in socio-economic, agriculture, industry, tourism, mining, utilities, infrastructure, social services and good governance. The preservation also included major challenges of implementation of GTP. The contribution and possible role of the diaspora was also highlighted. The head of the delegation Amb Dr Addisalem Balema re-iterated the concerted efforts of the people and the government to bring social-economic and societal transformation to be a middle income country. He cited that the govt had managed the recent drought without causing any causality as a testimonial of the success in building an economy that could withstand drought. He has further elaborated the industrial & agro-industry parks in Tigray and invited the diaspora to be part of those exciting projects and invest. He then opened the floor for discussion.

The participants openly raised issues, among other things, related to sewage system in cities and water shortage especially in Mekelle, peace & security, delay in industry development, limited tourism promotion, culture and language, lack of good governance, Ethio-eritrea border issue, more diaspora engagement, role of EFFORT, democracy, leadership succession, quality of social services and unemployment.

The delegation appreciated the public in Bay Area for the constructive ideas and provided detailed explanation for the raised concerns. The meeting came to an end with a concluding statement of Dr Addisalem Balema that such engagement will continue and we should all united (strengthen our unity) in fighting poverty and backwardness, and bring the ultimate economic development and societal transformation

A similar successful meeting was also held at the same date in Atlanta with another Tigray delegation led by Ato Alem Gebrewahid.