Prime Minister Philemon Yang on January 9, 2015 received the new Canadian High Commissioner, His Excellency René Cremonese.
Relations between Cameroon and Canada will henceforth see focus shifted from development issues to economic partnership. Revealing this to the media in Yaounde on Friday, January 9, 2015, after paying a courtesy call on the Prime Minister and Head of Government, Philemon Yang, High Commissioner René Cremonese said this will be one of the priorities of his tenure.
Prime Minister Philemon Yang agreed that such a shift was necessary and offered the support of his government, the new Canadian diplomat explained. He said they also revisited relations between the two countries and Philemon Yang’s time in Canada where he was Cameroon’s High Commissioner for over 20 years. Other matters discussed at the meeting were the insecurity in the Far North Region created by Boko Haram attacks and cross-border raids by Central African Republic armed gangs in the East Region.
Meanwhile, Canada has offered FCFA 1.1 billion to the UN Refugee Agency for the assistance of refugees in the sub-region as well as some additional funds to the Red Cross and other charities to cater for refugees in the Far North Region. The new Canadian Envoy on Tuesday, January 6, 2015, presented his Letters of Credence to President Paul Biya at the Unity Palace. Earlier the same day, he presented the advance copies of his Letters of Credence to the Minister of External Relations, Prof. Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo.
After over half a century of bilateral relations between the two countries, Cameroon and Canada have moved from a donor-beneficiary relationship to one of trade partners. That change was illustrated by the signing of a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) in Toronto on March 3, 2014. Cameroon was both Canada’s second top export destination and second largest import source in the Central African region in 2013. The same year, two-way merchandise trade reached 53.1 million US Dollars (about FCFA 29.2 billion).
