The Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Government Commissioner for Small and Medium-Size Enterprises and Tourism in the German Ministry of Economy and Technology, Ernst Burgbacher is heading a government and business delegation to Cameroon to seek ways of strengthening technical and economic cooperation between his country and Cameroon.
The German government official and members of his delegation had a working session with the Prime Minister, Head of Government,Philemon Yang at the Star Building on Monday April 16, 2012 at the start of their working visit to the country that ends on April 18.
Talking to the press at the Prime Minister’s Office, Ernst Burgbacher disclosed that the team was in Cameroon to strengthen cooperation in the sectors of renewable energy development, fertilizer production, security, and infrastructure. The German investors and officials are also interested in capacity building for the youths, job creation and will therefore use the visit to promote their country’s enterprises in Cameroon.
Discussions with different government officials, the business community and field visits are to discuss projects in these areas. For instance, they are scheduled to visit the Kribi Gas-fired Plant Project on Wednesday April 18 and discuss with the Cameroon business community today, April 17 in the economic capital, Douala. The visit follows the decision by the German government to foster relations with Africa, Ernst Burgbacher said, stating that Cameroon, with which his country has close historical ties, was an important partner.
Prime Minister Philemon Yang, the German government official said, was open and interested in the German drive to foster technical cooperation ties. Cameroon has a lot of possibilities, according to the delegation leader and Germany would want to use them as a stepping stone to foster the already existing economic and technical cooperation.
From the Prime Minister’s Office, the German delegation had separate discussions with the Minister of External Relations; Mines, Industries and Technological Development and Economy, Planning and Regional Development, among others. They were accompanied by the German Ambassador to Cameroon, Reinhard Buchholz.
Cameroon is one of the 57 partner countries with which Germany has development cooperation in the technical, cultural and financial sectors. There are over 5,000 Cameroonian students in Germany, in addition to business people.
