President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has received the Letters of Credence from six new Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaries accredited near Monrovia.

They include Her Excellency Madam Caroline Gudenus, Ambassador of the Republic of Austria with residence in Dakar, Senegal; His Excellency Mr. Alfonso Di Riso, Ambassador of the Republic of Italy and His Excellency Mr. Saudi Bin Saad Al-Thobaiti, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with residence in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; and Her Excellency Dr. Sinead Walsh, Ambassador of the Republic of Ireland, residence in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Others are His Excellency Mr. Noh Kyu-duk, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea and His Excellency Mr. Harry Purwanto, with residence in Abuja, Nigeria.

According to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberian leader, while receiving the six Ambassadors at separate ceremonies at her Foreign Ministry office on Thursday, June 25, she expressed appreciation on behalf of the Liberian Government and people for the excellent and cordial relations subsisting between these countries and Liberia and in trying to uplift the bilateral relations to another level.

President Sirleaf indicated that the long-standing and cherished relationship Liberia enjoys with the six countries have translated into strategic partnerships and has enabled these countries pursue genuine cooperation for mutual benefits and the enrichment of the wellbeing and prosperity of the various countries and peoples.

In separate remarks, the Liberia President updated the six new Ambassadors on the current situation in the country especially since her reelection in 2011. “Liberia resolved to embark on a progressive development agenda in a bid to regain our lost pride from infrastructural and economic degradation. Subsequently, in February 2012, we launched a national development agenda, Vision 2030, with the aspiration of projecting Liberia into a middle income country by 2030, and to ensure that Liberia transforms from purely an exporting nation of raw materials to a manufacturer of finished products. We are quite aware that this ambition comes with huge challenges amongst which are infrastructure such as roads, power and ports,” she stressed.

President Sirleaf also highlighted Government’s five year program, the “Agenda for Transformation (AFT)”, aimed at supporting nearly all of the pillars of Liberia Rising Vision 2030; and acknowledge the six countries support in various areas particularly health, water and sanitation, security and gender.

She indicated that Liberia was well on the path of economic stability and rebuilding including significant progress made in priority sectors as economic growth was soaring and the livelihoods of Liberians were significantly being made healthier. “As we began to recount our gains, Ebola struck and began to invalidate the progress made over the years,” the Liberian President noted. She expressed thanks and appreciation all the partners including the six countries for standing alongside Liberia in confronting the huge challenges engendered by the Ebola virus.

The Liberian leader stressed that the Ebola virus disease has had a grave impact on the country’s development drive as well as the economy and informed the six new diplomats accredited near this capital that a post-Ebola recovery plan has been developed to mitigate the economic challenges. She pointed out that private sector partnership will be highly encouraged and anticipated to aid the recovery process.

Presenting her Letters of Credence earlier, Austria’s new Ambassador to Liberia, Her Excellency Madam Caroline Gudenus, said though there are only a few Austrian Embassies in Africa, the continuous reinforcement of the cooperation among the two countries over the last few years as well as on the bilateral and multilateral levels is the basis for the further development of the excellent relations among the two countries not least in the economic field and the reinforcement of the friendship among the two peoples. “These important objectives will be the guide of my action in realizing this important task the Government of Austria has entrusted me with,” she said, adding that it is a strong desire to respond to the challenges ahead with an open and cooperative spirit.

In presenting his Letters of Credence later, the new Italian Ambassador, His Excellency Mr. Alfonso Di Riso said Italy together with the international community, in particular the European Union, will assist Liberia in its post-Ebola phase and is definitely committed to cooperate as much as possible to encourage and facilitate sustainable development.

“It is worth remembering that the Italian contribution to the XI European Development Fund is 12.53 percent,” he said, adding that Italy’s contribution to the total resources allocated by the EU to Liberia for the period 2014-2020 amounts to approximately €35 million (euros).

He noted that the Italian Government also stands ready to evaluate new fields of cooperation in view of fostering the economic growth of Liberia in the framework of a win-win relationship and looks forward to a further increase of bilateral relations in every field of common interest.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Ireland, Her Excellency Dr. Sinead Walsh, commended President Sirleaf on the remarkable job of defeating the Ebola virus disease. “Being based in Sierra Leone since the epidemic began, I am aware of how enormously challenging that was,” she said. Adding that Liberia’s approach of promoting community ownership of the response is to be commended, and this same approach can strengthen long-term development efforts in the future.

She disclosed that Irish Aid has opened an office here in Monrovia, which allows the Irish Government to better engage with and support the Government and people of Liberia as specifically stated in Ireland’s new policy for international development of 2013.

Since 2005, Ireland has provided over €68 million (euros) to development programs in Liberia, primarily in the health sector. By far the greatest investment Ireland makes every year is to the Ministry of Health, €4 million (euros) per year in support of the Health Sector Pool Fund. Since 2007, Ireland has supported the Liberia WASH Consortium in implementing the Joint Sector Plan. They have also supported the Police Emergency Response Unit of the Liberia National Police through the Justice and Security Trust Fund, among others.

The three other Ambassadors, His Excellency Mr. Noh Kyu-duk of the Republic of Korea, His Excellency Mr. Harry Purwanto of the Republic of Indonesia and His Excellency Mr. Saud Bin Saad Al-Thobaiti of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, respectively, promised to ensure their country’s relationship with Liberia will graduate to another level. They also promised to do whatever they can to promote investment opportunities here in Liberia.