By Alim Jalloh
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – President Dr Julius Maada Bio has on Tuesday 29 October, 2019 met with the Crown Prince of Emirates, His Highness Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Abu Dhabi where he called for support to Sierra Leone’s development process.
President Bio thanked Prince Nahyan for meeting him to meet and discuss issues relating to the development and commended him for sending a 22-man delegation to Sierra Leone in April this year. He said after the visit a lot of progress had been made to foster the relationship between Sierra Leone and the Emirates.
He said his government was moving in the right direction and had been able to bring back international credibility and confidence through fiscal discipline and effective economic management. He said his government was truly committed to improving the livelihood of its citizens, adding that they were looking for credible partners with genuine intentions to help in the development process.
“We are a small nation but with huge potentials that we can use to better the lives of our people. What we need now is genuine friends who can help us actualise the dreams of making our nation a better place. We will appreciate your support, especially in food production so we can be able to feed our people and export foodstuff to help boost our foreign exchange,” he said.
In his response, Prince Nahyan said that he was happy to meet the President and his delegation. He said they were using technology as a basis for their development in catching up with the rest of the world by bringing the best experts across the world to work in their country. He said they had heard a lot of stories about the challenging history of Sierra Leone and were ready to help the country in its development drive.
President Bio was accompanied by Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to the UAE, Rashid Sesay, and other senior members of government. Later on, the President and his delegation also visited the Sierra Leone Embassy in Abu Dhabi where he had an interactive session with staff of the Embassy.
