BERBERA, SOMALILAND — The Free Republic of Liberland has successfully begun the mutual recognition process with the Republic of Somaliland and commenced cooperation on a number of important fronts.
Vice President of Somaliland H.E. Abdirahman Abdillahi Ismail, Somaliland Trade and Investment Minister H.E. Omar Shoaib Mohamed, Liberland Minister of Protocol Dr. Tariq Abbasi KGCIOM MBE DL, and Liberland President Vít Jedlička signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Somaliland and Liberland governments.
The Memorandum was signed at 1:45 PM on the 25th of September 2017 at the seaport city of Berbera in Somaliland. Representatives of the two countries also created a Joint Committee on Technology, Energy, and Banking. The two countries also agreed to cooperate and support each other during the mutual recognition process and on international fronts.
The President of Liberland presented the Vice President of Somaliland with official gifts from Liberland, including a mint collection of Liberland Merit coins and a symbolic one unit of Ethereum.
Somaliland, unlike Somalia, is a stable representative democracy with 3.5 million inhabitants that enjoy high levels of internal security, low taxation, and functioning and thriving market economy.
The Free Republic of Liberland, a country founded on the principles of individual liberty, was proclaimed on 13 April 2015 on a parcel of land on the Danube River between Croatia and Serbia. The land claim was made in accordance with international law regarding terra nullius, as it had remained unclaimed by either Serbia or Croatia and no longer had any state affiliation with either neighboring country. As of today, Liberland has close to half a million applicants for its citizenship.
Before signing the Memorandum of Understanding, President Jedlička of Liberland delivered a speech about Liberland’s vision of mutual cooperation with Somaliland. It can be read below.
For more information please contact press@liberland.org
Speech by President Vít Jedlička on the occasion of signing the Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of Somaliland and Liberland
Berbera, Somaliland
24 September 2017
Mr. President, minister, Excellencies, dear friends. I have been for many years an admirer of your independent country and your founding strengths. It is obvious that your decision to be an independent country almost 30 years ago was the right one and I applaud you for that.
The Preamble of your constitution lists three points that almost perfectly match with key principles behind Liberland’s constitution: 1) The decentralization of the administration of the government. 2) guarantees of private property rights and 3) the protection of the free market.
Of course, there are many areas where you have to work hard to be able to keep up the pace with developed countries. But I believe that if you adhere to these principles set by your constitution, you will soon succeed. I applaud you for keeping tax revenue as a percentage of GDP in Somaliland as low as 7% and yet are able to organize a decent amount of security and justice in the country. This guarantees that 93% of the economy is organized by the citizens themselves, through free markets.
You have managed to make an advantage out of your non-recognized status and I believe there is much more potential here which has not yet been utilized. You can become a testing ground for many things that are very difficult to develop, evaluate and implement in the over-regulated world of recognized countries. You have great potential to host chemical and pharmaceutical companies that are struggling with burdensome and progress-stopping regulations.
I further commend you for managing to attract a 1 billion dollar investment from the United Arab Emirates. It is a great sign of a healthy investment future for the whole country. I hope Liberland will play a similarly important role as the UAE in Somaliland’s near future.
Today we will sign the Memorandum of Understanding between our two countries, which will create a Joint Committee on Technology, Energy, and Banking.
Let me address these three sectors separately. Banking is undergoing a truly revolutionary time, with the introduction of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The old world still tries to deny this spectacular change, but this dramatic innovation is coming. You could be one step ahead of the world by skipping the development of traditional banking and moving directly to the world of cryptocurrencies. We would like to assist you in that.
The underlying technology behind Bitcoin is Blockchain. It could be a great tool, not just for your central bank, but also for different state registries. We would like to help you to build the world’s most advanced citizenship registry, company registry, land registry, domain registry, and for example, ship registry with the help of blockchain technology.
Liberland, from its foundation, is relying on solar power for its energy needs. Somaliland is in an even more prime geographic location for the development of solar power infrastructure. We are also experimenting with the implementation of hydrogen cells with high efficiency. We would like to share this experience with you. We believe it could be truly the next big and green industry in Somaliland.
An independent and prosperous Somaliland is and will be a shining example of peace in the Horn of Africa and the world. You have our full support.
Thank you again very much for your invitation and warm welcome. We are looking forward to longstanding cooperation between our countries.
