Meles said Ethiopia, which became a new member of the Forum, would like to contribute its share for the success of the forum.

He also expressed his country, which adopted federalism, has strong desire to draw lessons from countries, which have rich experience in federalism government structure.

Prime Minister Meles said Ethiopia was also ready to draw lessons from the three-day conference being held under a title "Unity under Diversity-learning from Each Other".

He said it was with that intention that the Ethiopian delegation comprised not only government officials but also renowned intellectuals in the field.

Meles said Ethiopia is desirous to learn from India, which he said, has years of experience in federal government structure.

He said his country is ready to host the 5th Federalism International Conference, which he said, shows its commitment to the success of the forum.

Meles said New democracy is flourishing in Ethiopia ever since it adopted federalism for its government structure.

Ethiopia is the country of diverse nations and nationalities numbering over 70 with various vernaculars.

Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said while opening the conference that differences among regions in the country should rout out if federalism needs to be successful.

This situation is challenging to federalism, he said.

Commorian President Ahmed Abdelah Mohammed Sambi, Swiss Confederation President Micheline Calmy-rey and Nigerian Vice President Good Luck Jonathan on their part delivered speeches to the Conference.

The three-day conference envisages promoting dialogue on the renewal and development of federalism and greater cooperation among practitioners in pursuit of good governance. This conference is being organized in partnership between the Government of India and the Forum of Federations, a Canada-based international forum of federal countries. The earlier conferences were held in Canada 1999, Switzerland 2002 and Belgium 2005.

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