Selected Speeches Of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, 1918-1967

Each day, throughout the Empire of Ethiopia, some new project is initiated or completed, some new programme is launched, some new achievement is won, some new step is taken in the never-ending labour to which We and Our Government and people have dedicated ourselves in the struggle to bring economic and social development to Ethiopia and the fruits and benefits of modernity to Our people. A new school is opened; a new road is begun; a new factory is inaugurated. It is in this fashion that a nation advances, and the sum of these accomplishments, some great, some small, but all important, brings us day by day ever closer to the goals which we seek.

Today, it is with pleasure that We inaugurate this new cement factory. For too long has Ethiopia been dependent on external sources for our supplies of this essential commodity. As the pace of construction in Our country has increased over the years, the need for the establishment of domestic sources of production, has become ever more keenly felt. We have good reason to believe that the time is not distant when we shall not only be self-sufficient in cement production but shall be in a position to supply other countries with this basic product. We are gratified to see that Our country has the necessary raw materials, that the requisite technical skills have been developed, and the other facilities which comprise this plant have been installed and that today this plant stands ready to play its role in the growth of the national economy.

The cement produced in this plant, will be used to build structures in which men and women will live and work and it will, in general, serve Our country. The care and devotion which has gone into the construction of this factory must be matched by the skill and labour of those who will use its productions, and failure at any step of the way will defeat the efforts of all.

To the many who have participated in the project which today comes to realization, We extend Our thanks: to the friendly Government of the People's Republic of Yugoslavia; to the firms of INGRA and IMPRESIT and their employees; to the Ethiopian Cement Corporation. Without the concerted efforts of all, this plant would not today stand completed, ready to do service to Our people.

May 19, 1965.

Selected Speeches Of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I

INAUGURATION OF CEMENT FACTORY