Ethiopia and Eritrea signed on Monday a "Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship" to end decades of acrimony and conflict. Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said on Twitter that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, 41, and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, 71, had inked the declaration on the second day of a state visit to Asmara. The statement declared that the "state of war that existed between the two countries has come to an end. A new era of peace and friendship has been ushered (in)." "Both countries will work to promote close cooperation in political, economic, social, cultural and security areas," Yemane added. The declaration echoed comments made by Abiy at a dinner hosted by Isaias late Sunday, where he said diplomatic, trade, transport and communications ties would be re-established and borders re-opened. "We agreed that the airlines will start operating, the ports will be accessible, people can move between the two countries and the embassies will be opened," Abiy said. "We will demolish the wall and, with love, build a bridge between the two countries," he said. In the first concrete signs of a healing of relations, the two countries re-established telephone connections. Ethiopian Airlines is also due to begin flying to Asmara next week. Reflecting investor optimism, Ethiopias dollar-denominated 2014 bond soared for the third straight session on Monday to trade at its highest level in 10 weeks. Direct telephone communications have already been restored for the first time in two decades. Abiy left Asmara after signing the joint agreement on Monday to return to Addis Ababa. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres hailed the dizzying peace process as "a very important symbol of hope not only for the two countries, not only for Africa, but for the whole world." "This move opens prospects for real, regional economic integration. Get the economic underpinnings of the region right and you get stability," said Alex Rondos, the European Unions special representative for the Horn of Africa. Abiys Chief of Staff Fitsum Arega wrote on Twitter that Ethiopia had officially submitted a request to Guterres during his visit to Addis Ababa for the lifting of sanctions against Eritrea, which include an arms embargo as well as asset freeze and travel bans against select individuals. Recent weeks of rapid rapprochement are aimed at ending decades of animosity, periods of outright conflict and many years of cold war between the two countries. Eritrea, formerly a province of Ethiopia, waged a 30-year war for independence and seceded in 1993. But relations soon soured and around 800,000 people died in a 1998-2000 war. The break rendered Ethiopia landlocked, and the deterioration of relations due to the continuing cold war forced Ethiopia to rely on Djibouti for its sea trade. The thaw began last month when Abiy said Ethiopia would abide by a 2002 UN-backed ruling, made after a two-year frontier war, and hand back to Eritrea disputed border territory, including the flashpoint town of Badme. The re-establishment of diplomatic and trade ties after years of bitter separation could mean big benefits for both nations, and the wider Horn of Africa region, plagued by conflict and poverty. Ethiopian access to Eritreas ports will be an economic boon for both. Free movement across the border will also unite, once again, two peoples closely linked by history, language and ethnicity. Ethiopias Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu told journalists Monday that joint commissions on economics, politics and military cooperation would be set up to "work out the exact time and place of the implementation plan. However, challenges remain. Ethiopia faces heavy debt related to an infrastructure drive that included a $4 billion, Chinese-built railway to Djibouti. The need to finance further upgrades, this time in erstwhile enemy Eritrea, will test its borrowing capacity. Though growth has averaged nearly 10 percent for the past decade - starting from a very low base - analysts say the Ethiopian economy is choked by dollar shortages caused mainly by heavy public investment in mega-projects. Both sides will also probably face opposition to the rapprochement from entrenched hawks at home.