Cameroon and the Republic of Korea have pledged to further deepen existing cordial business ties between the two countries for the mutual benefit of their socio-economic and political advancement. According to Korea’s Ambassador to Cameroon, Cho June Hyuck, “So far, our cooperation has been more or less focused on the preparatory stage such as feasibility studies or master plans. Now is the time to go to the next level to materialise our ideas and aspirations for Cameroon and Korea.”

The Korean official made the remark on Thursday December 8 during a business and energy cooperation forum marking 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries at the Yaoundé Hilton Hotel. The forum was geared towards accessing the path already covered by the two countries, at least in the economic domain, and what could be done to further strengthen it, especially with respective growth visions of the two countries. Mr Cho June Hyuck said holding on the heels of the re-election of President Paul Biya and the reopening of the Korea Business Centre of the Korea Trade-investment Promotion Agency in Douala last month, the forum marked a new dawn of cooperation between the two countries. The forum, he added, served as an opportunity for both parties to exchange views and ideas on the investment opportunities as well as develop fruitful business partnerships. He disclosed that Korea’s Pohang Iron and Steel Company plans to construct a steel processing plant and a hydropower to operate the plant. “It can help Cameroon develop its natural resources in order to enhance value-added and sustainably spur its economic growth,” the Ambassador said.

Speaking on behalf of the government of Cameroon, the Secretary of State in the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Technological Development, Dr. Fuh Calistus Gentry, qualified Cameroon-Korea relations as fruitful and timely especially with government’s 2035 growth vision. The presence of Korean companies in the mining, energy and transport sectors, among others, he added, attests to the good state of relations between the two countries. “Cameroon has enormous potentials in the mining and energy sectors. Deepening our cooperation in these areas, as they have promised, would be a welcome relief given the strengths of the sectors to our development,” he said. Dr Fuh Calistus recalled Korea’s announced funded and constructed mining laboratory for Cameroon to the tune of 7 million U.S dollars as salvation to the country’s mining sector especially as 60 per cent of the country’s mineral potentials are still to be explored.

The forum was also an opportunity for Cameroon officials to present investment opportunities in the energy and oil sectors in the country as well as get possibilities of cooperation in the plant industry.