A mixed commission began meeting in Yaounde yesterday July 18, 2013 to fine-tune cooperation mechanisms.

Cameroon and Egypt are fine-tuning strategies through which they could cooperate for a win-win development of tourism in the two countries. The Secretaries General of the Ministries in charge of Tourism of the two countries and other stakeholders began meeting in Yaounde yesterday July 18, 2013 within the framework of the first tourism sector by sector meeting of their bilateral cooperation. Angeline Florence Ngomo, Secretary General in Cameroon’s Ministry of Tourism and Leisure is leading the country’s delegation while her counterpart of Egypt, Wessam Hamed Mohamed, accompanied by the Director of Tourism Development in Egypt, Salah Eldin Mohamed, is representing their country.

Through the cooperation, Egypt’s experience in tourism is expected to be felt in Cameroon’s tourism infrastructural development, rehabilitation of tourists sites and the training of stakeholders for efficiency and profitability of the sector in the country. According to Mrs Wessam Hamed Mohamed, over 11.5 million tourists visited Egypt in 2012 fetching over 10 billion in revenue for the country. The situation was even better in 2010 when 14.7 million tourists visited Egypt bringing in over 22 billion in foreign revenue. The sector represents 11 per cent of economic activities in Egypt with attractive sites like Giza pyramids, the Great Sphinx, the ancient temples of Luxor as well as the Coptic Monasteries of the Eastern Desert.

To Angeline Florence Ngomo, Cameroon has 300 priority tourism sites to be rehabilitated, over 200 ethnic groups, 12 national parks and other interesting tourism sites that are yearning for modernisation.

Through the cooperation, actors in the hotel and tourists sites will be given adequate training, 100 police officers will be trained per year, exchange visits of tourism stakeholders, studies on the development of long-term tourism infrastructure as well as the invitation of Egypt’s business class to invest in tourism in Cameroon are in view. This will boost in quality and quantity the 534 lodging infrastructure with 14,886 rooms and 22,329 beds that Cameroon has as well as the 377 restaurant establishments in the country. The least of which will not be good roads, railways and airport infrastructure to enhance movement within the country. 

Cooperation between the two countries, the officials said, date back to 1960 but gained momentum in 2010 after the April 21-22 grand mixed commission between the two countries. The materialisation of ongoing discussions, they said, will fire the relations to the skies. Participants of the ongoing meeting are expected to undertake an excursion to the Mefou national park this Saturday to round off their discussions.