The Secretary of State at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) was received in audience by the Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT), Alamine Ousmane Mey, on 11 July 2023, in his office. The audience was attended by H.E. Dr Corinna Fricke, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Cameroon.
During this audience, the Minister of the Economy and his host reviewed the key areas of bilateral cooperation between Cameroon and Germany. The two personalities welcomed the efforts already made in the public sector and stressed the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation involving the German and Cameroonian private sectors. They also discussed the need to strengthen decentralisation, governance and strategic management of the State, so that substantial resources can be made available to support infrastructure development in Cameroon.
“I would once again like to seize this opportunity to express our delight at receiving Minister FLASBARTH, whom we met recently in Berlin as part of our intergovernmental dialogue, said Alamine Ousmane Mey at the end of the audience. MINEPAT said that during future discussions, they would continue to further the involvement of Germany in the development process of Cameroon and towards ensuring that the people of Cameroon benefit more from the resources allocated to development projects. Such target reforms undertaken by the country to improve its management of public finances, the mobilisation of domestic tax revenues, and performance in terms of economic and social development. The MINEPAT goes on to emphasise that “an emerging country needs resources and measures to ensure the well-being of its people and this is the 2035 vision of the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul Biya: to make Cameroon an emerging country, democratic and united in its diversity”.
For the Secretary of State at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Jochen Flasbarth, today’s discussions with the Minister of the Economy come to further improve cooperation between Cameroon and Germany. “This is based on the long-standing collaboration between our two countries and, if I may say so, on a very strong friendship. We trust each other. As Germans, we believe in Cameroon’s potential”, said the German Minister. The BMZ said its visit to Cameroon is to attend the Second International Conference of Ministers on Cross-Border Transhumance between the Sahel and North Equatorial Africa regions, which shall hold in Yaoundé from 10 to 12 July 2023. The discussions between MINEPAT and BMZ are an extension of the discussions begun during the intergovernmental negotiations held last May in Berlin, which made it possible to raise close to 100 million euros from Germany for a three-year period.