Abidjan – Leaving “very soon”, the Ivorian authorities honored the Sudanese ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, Abdelwahad El Sawi Khalafalla, with a farewell dinner on Thursday, during which he was also awarded the rank of Commander of the National Order of Côte d’Ivoire.
“This dinner is a symbol by which the President of the Republic, the government and the people of the Ivorian wish to express to you their deep gratitude and endless recognition for all the efforts you have made tirelessly in order to strengthen the cooperation between Côte d’Ivoire and Sudan,” explained the Minister of Tourism and Leisure, Siandou Fofana , who represented his foreign affairs counterpart, Marcel Amon-Tanoh, at the dinner.
Côte d’Ivoire and Sudan have established diplomatic relations since April 11, 1975. But Khartoum opened an embassy in Abidjan only in January 2016. Appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Mr. Abdelwahad El Sawi reopened the diplomatic mission in Abidjan and held a warming of cooperative relations, especially in economic and trade matters between the two countries.
He officially took office on May 30, 2016, by presenting his credentials to the President of the Republic, Alassane Ouattara. His mission was particularly marked by the sharp increase in trade between Côte d’Ivoire and his country which rose from 220 million FCFA in 2016 to almost 2 billion in 2017 with a trade surplus for Abidjan.
Minister Fofana Siandou expressed his country’s desire to introduce new dynamics aimed at increasing the volume of this trade.
The Saudi diplomat expressed his pride at being given such an honor and expressed his gratitude to the Ivorian government for the favorable working conditions he was able to benefit from. He also praised the hospitality of the Ivorian people.
kg/mt