President of Somaliland HE Muse Bihi Abdi opened a high level conference organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation titled “Somaliland Achievements and Challenges ahead 27 years later”.
The meeting was attended by world renown experts in international relations and diplomacy experts as well as many dignitaries from current, previous government and members of both opposition parties of Somaliland
The President, in his opening remark, highlighted both the successes and the challenges that faces the Republic of Somaliland in the last 27 years.
Accomplishments
- Peace and reconciliation among the Somaliland clans;
- Demobilization of the Militia and the establishment of Somaliland national armed forces;
- State and institutions building;
- Referendum on the constitution and its approval by 97% o the Somaliland voters;
- Implementation of the democratization process and holding of multiple rounds of peaceful, credible, free and fair elections;
- Economic development and successful efforts to attract Foreign Direct Investment chief among them is the expansion and modernization of the Berbera Port;
- Somaliland’s contribution to the regional peace and stability;
- The role we play in the Regional Economic integration through utilization of the soon to be expanded and modernized Berbera port.
Challenges
- Economy with limited resources;
- Huge unemployment level particularly among the youth;
- Lack of international recognition which impacts negatively on our ability to obtain our rights including international economic support, specially from International Financial Institutions;
- Limited resources for a better infrastructure development.
- Our government is continuously working on strategies to address these challenges facing us in this contemporary period.
On the same day, the President met with the Danish Ambassador to Somaliland and Somalia Mette Knudsen and the head of the Danish aid agency DANIDA Anne Elisabeth Kobæk.
Berbera Port Expansion Project
About 50 miles to the east of Hargeisa, the Vice President of Somaliland HE Abdirahman Abdallahi Ismail Saylici was attending another high profile event in Berbera.
The Vice President broke ground on a new project to expand the Berbera port container terminal by an additional 400 meters.
The Vice President and the Port Manager spoke of the improvements and the changes that DP World has completed in the Berbera DP World since it assumed operating the port.
The kick off ceremony of the first face of the expansion project was attended by senior members of the constructions firm that will be undertaking the construction as well as members from DP World management.