Fischer to represent Israel in Ivory Coast ceremony
Bank of Israel governor and Ivory Coast president first met 20 years ago while working together in World Bank. Fischer received formal invitation to attend Alassane Ouattara's inauguration ceremony
Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer will represent Israel in the inauguration ceremony of Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara this weekend.
Fischer, a close friend of the incoming president, will attend the ceremony alongside such prominent politicians as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
On Saturday, Ouattara will officially take over from former President Laurent Gbagbo, who lost the country's elections but refused to step down and caused a civil war to erupt.
Fischer, who received a formal invitation for the ceremony, will be accompanied by a Foreign Ministry representative.
He met Ouattara 20 years ago, during his stint at the World Bank. The two worked together as VPs in the International Monetary Fund between 1994 and 1999, and Ouattara later returned to the Ivory Coast to run for elections. "We'll see each other in my inauguration, he told me," Fischer told Ynet.
"I know Ouattara to be a wise man, an excellent economist, and above all a leader that will be able to restore past glory to the Ivory Coast," Fischer added. He noted that both he and his wife are excited to attend the inauguration.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry is checking when it will be possible to reopen the Israeli embassy in Abidjan. The embassy was evacuated in a military operation while the fierce fighting was going on in the country.
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