Obama meets Ethiopian PM over bilateral, regional issues

Having arrived later Sunday in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday met and held discussion with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia on issues of bilateral and regional topics.

The two leaders told reporters after their meeting at the National Palace in the capital of the East African country that they had deliberated on ways of further deepening their bilateral relations and cooperation on number of issues.

They discussed ways of strengthening the economic cooperation between Ethiopia and the U.S., trade, and investment among other issues.

President Obama and Prime Minister Hailemariam also discussed issues related to food security, climate change, good governance, as well as other issues including regional peace and security, particularly terrorism.

"We have agreed to work closely on South Sudan to bring lasting peace to the conflict-driven country. We have both agreed to work together in building peace in Somalia," said Hailemariam.

Obama said that he had a productive discussion with Hailemariam on economic cooperation, development, peace and security, particularly efforts to address violent extremism.

Reiterating that Ethiopia is one of the fastest economies in the world, Obama expressed the U.S. interest to strengthen its economic and trade partnership with Ethiopia.

Obama has hailed Ethiopia's endeavor and its successes in health, education and addressing poverty among others over the past one and half decades.

President Obama will meet African Union (AU) officials on Tuesday, whereby he has also been scheduled to address the African continent at the Nelson Mandela Hall of the AU Conference Center in Addis Ababa. Endit