In a bid to expand trade and investment in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the nation has recently held its first Invest-in-Congo Brazzaville (ICB) Forum 2015 in order to attract prospective investors from within and outside the country, to the nation’s capital.
According to Mr Isidore Mvouba, Minister of State, Industrial development and the promotion of the private sector in Congo, the ICB Forum 2015 has kept its promises of dedicating the forum to the promotion of investment opportunities in the Congo.
The Minister also highlighted the success of the ICB Forum 2015: “ICB 2015 has proven to have been a huge opportunity to both give and receive. ICB 2015 has shown that we can do very good business in the Congo. In terms of the record attendance it has seen, the various delegations who competed with each other in terms of demonstrating their zeal and very high-quality debates and communication, ICB 2015 has reinforced the brand image of the Congo”.
The core discussions of the forum centered around Congo’s economic potentials and an exchange of views which will be beneficial for trade relations in the country as well as its decentralization policies, a key to expanding new centers of activity. Issues bothering on the country’s geostrategic position in the continent, mines and oil, innovation, and ICT were also discussed while new sources of growth and jobs in the Congo were explored.
The platform created an avenue for numerous signings of memorandums of understanding between foreign investors and Congolese economic operators, some of which include that between the Brazzaville Chamber of Commerce and the Turkish employers DEIK, Congo Capital Enterprises, the General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (CGEM) and the Moroccan Centre for Export Promotion (Maroc Export). Also worth noting was the signing of a partnership deal between the Support to Economic Diversification Project (PADE) – World Bank Group and the Republic of the Congo – and the International French Business Confederation (MEDEF INTERNATIONAL), with an aim to organising investment promotion activities in non-oil value chains.
