Speech of The Day (204) - laid the foundation for the construction of The Port of Assab, Saturday, 3 May, 1958

On Saturday, May 3, 1958, His Imperial

Majesty Haile Selassie I laid the foundation

stone for the construction of the Port of Assab.

Below is His Imperial Majesty's speech on that

occasion:

"We have chosen to come here today for the ceremony

of laying the foundation stone for the construction of

Our Port of Assab, not only in order to inspect the

beginning of what is to be a great technical achievement,

but also to commemorate a significant moment in the

history of Modern Ethiopia, combining as it does,

progress in modernity with antiquity of tradition.

No Ethiopia, of this or of future generations, can

afford to forget the disadvantages under which Our

country suffered in the days when we had no access to

the sea. It has, therefore, long been the desire of

Ethiopia to see her ports restored to their Motherland.

In order to secure an outlet to the sea on these shores,

We entered in 1928 into an agreement with the Government

of Italy, but the agreement remained unhonoured,

with no default on Our part.

God has ordained that this desire of Ethiopia be

fulfilled during Our reign, and has crowned with

success Our efforts to secure the re-integration of Eritrea

and Ethiopia, which We undertook as soon as We, by His

grace, had returned to Our homeland and had completed

the work of re-establishing and re-organizing Our

Government under Our personal guidance and direction.

For this Our gratitude to God is unbounded.

The trails and hardships to which Ethiopia had been

subject in the days when she had no free outlet to the

sea, qualify her in a special sense to appreciate the great

importance of having a seaport of her own.

In laying the foundation stone of the Port of Assab,

this historic gateway to the sea, connecting Our land

with the oceans of the World, We are today opening

for all the peoples of Our Empire a door to prosperity

and good fortune of which they can be justly proud.

This port, connecting Ethiopia with the pulsating

artery of world commerce, joins her in ties of trade with

the shores of her friends and neighbours, and also brings

her into free contact with the continents of the world.

We stand on the renowned strait of Bab-el-Mandeb,

through which pass, perhaps more ships than through

any other stretch of water on our globe. Ethiopia, here in

Assab, stands sentinel to aid and assist the vast number

of vessels which carry the life-blood of world commerce.

She must therefore be fully conscious of her responsibility

to work hard for the development of her ports.

This uniquely strategic port of Ethiopia, after the

trials and vicissitudes of nearly a century when it

languished unattended and cut off from its motherland,

has now been restored to her, and Ethiopia, in full

realization of her high responsibility, has undertaken the

great task of transforming Assab, into that ,outlet for

Ethiopia's sea-borne products, which, by virtue of its

unparalleled position on the trade routes of the World,

it has so long deserved, and indeed demanded, to be.

At the very instant of the long awaited return of

Assab and Massawa, now five years ago, We declared.:

'In order to utilize to the maximum the resources

of the two ports of Massawa and Assab, We

have given orders that an ambitious programme

of rehabilitation and improvement of the installations

at Massawa and Assab should be undertaken.

Moreover - and this has taken place

well ahead of the date of the Federation of

Eritrea with Ethiopia - We have already

commenced important works for the repair and

improvement of the roads linking these two

ports with Eritrea and Ethiopia. "

The first part of that ambitious programme has

already been, under Our own direction, largely accomplished.

Although the challenge of the work that is

yet to be undertaken demands immense effort, We must

not forget that much has already been achieved here,

all of which may not be apparent to the casual visitor.

The more than 26 millions of Ethiopian dollars

which We are expending for the high engineering and

technical exploits involved in the development programme

of the Port of Assab, constitute already a direct and

permanent investment in the future of the Port for which

We today lay the foundation stone. This in itself is

sufficient guarantee for the unhindered development of

the port to meet the rapid expansion of Ethiopia's

economy which has characterised Our region.

The expenditure of large sum of money and thousands

of hours of engineering skills of the highest order, countless

hours of discussion and re-examination by experts

in engineering, in marine construction, in finance, in

commerce, and, finally, many weeks of careful study

and re-assessment by Ourselves of all the work that has

been undertaken at Our command, have taken place in

order to make possible this historic moment.

Following these careful studies, and after mature

reflection on all aspects made by Our friends, the great

and noble people of Yugoslavia, most advantageous to

us in comparison with other similar proposals, both in

terms of engineering genius and of financial facilities, and

accordingly, We have chosen to entrust this vastly

significant task of constructing the port of Assab, to

the Yugoslav people.

We would not let this auspicious occasion pass

without Our expressing to His Excellency Marshal I

Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia, Our thanks for

the assistance he has rendered in bringing to fruition

this cooperative venture, which shall always remain a

symbol of our mutual friendship.

We are fully confident that the Port of Assab will

respond fully to its high destiny and that a great future ·

awaits to bless this undertaking.

It is essential, as We stated five years ago, that

Massawa also be fully developed. The resources of

Ethiopia, both present and potential, are manifestly

adequate to permit the three ports of Massawa, Assab

and Djibouti, to thrive together without rivalry, in a

spirit of collaboration and co-operation.

In thus providing the means for the continued

growth of Ethiopia's foreign trade, We have looked not

only to the benefit of one particular region, but also to

the welfare and prosperity of Ethiopia as a whole.

At the moment of the return to Ethiopia of Our

loyal subjects along the Red Sea coast, We declared:

We will provide, by all possible means, for the

welfare of the population of Eritrea."

This promise We have always maintained and

fulfilled in various practical ways.

Since God gives us to enjoy only those fruits which

we cultivate with toil and sacrifice, We call upon all

Our beloved subjects, in a spirit of national dedication,

by their labours and devotion, to ensure that this Port,

now to spring into existence, will prove worthy of its

heritage and of its challenge."

Speeches delivered by His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie Ist Emperor of Ethiopia on various occasions - page 54 -