A meeting with Ayte Berhane
Kidane Mariam, the Director of EFFORT and TPLF CC member
Seattle, Washington, August 12,
2013- A meeting with Ayte Berhane
Kidane Mariam, the Director of EFFORT and TPLF CC member was held in Seattle. The meeting was hosted by UTNA Seattle Chapter and
attended by a lot of concerned Tigreans. The meeting was held in an atmosphere
of harmony and total unity and brought on new vigor. It brought a renewal of
the spirit of collaboration to participate in full gear and to be part and
parcel in contributing to the development effort.
Ayte Berhane Kidane Mariam spelled
out the objective of his presence in visiting Seattle. With his 
eloquent and persuasive ability, he
explained the situation in Tigrai in areas of development and the role of
EFFORT to uplift the hope and aspiration of many Tigreans from poverty to self-reliance.
As he puts it, the main objective of the visit had a dual purpose: to explain
the development activities that are taking place in the Tigrai region and to
get a feedback from concerned Ethiopians from abroad.
He and his colleagues were happy
about their mission and have taken a lot of positive feedback to improve in
customer service activities, taxation and other social issues that shackle
progress. Ayte Berhane noted that within 20 years TPLF leadership have laid a
strong foundation on healthcare, technology, education and fostering economic
growth in Tigray. The five year plan has already been implemented half way and
he was pleased to let to share some figures in 11% Agriculture, growth which is
based on our national resource, 10.8% in industry and 13% in the service
sector. If we continue with this stride of development into 2020, he assured
the audience that Ethiopia we will be in the right track to implement the
objective of the five year plan. In the industry sector, with 2 billion dollars
in investments in the Tigrai region, capital investment of individuals is
growing and Federal government is helping in the training of skilled workers.
EFFORT has increased its investment in textile, medical, and transport, and has
trained over 20,000 workers and 40,000 contractors. This explains the
remarkable achievement and hard work and commitment of the people of Tigrai and
EFFORT. The goal is to accelerate the resources available to the people of Tigrai
in order to ease poverty.
Currently, EFFORT continued its
cooperation with three universities in research and development activities to
be efficient in knowledge and technology transfer. EFFORTS has brought
encouragement through the handover of some sectors to individual holdings,
while transforming through its activities from simple to larger industries in
areas of the chemical industry. The metal industry found a 190 million ton
deposit in the Tigrai region and through mineral exploration (gold and other
precious minerals) they will be able to employ about 12, 000 employing in those
sectors. It has indeed heralded the triumph of the internal challenges that
have been encountered.
In particular there were some
questions from the audience in the areas of good governance, corruption and
opposition. Berhane answered with convincing remarks and a respectable manner
all the questions that were asked. Last but not least he urged all concerned
citizens to contribute their part in all activities, either as individuals or
as a group, to which will give an impetus to the project’s implementation.
