Congo State visit in Mauritius results

The Republic of Congo President Denis Sassou-N’guesso was on a state visit in Mauritius with the vision of industrialising and modernising his country.

Speaking at the business meet organised on Monday by the Board of Investment, the Congolese President encouraged local businessmen to invest in priority sectors such as agriculture, agro-industry, forestry, manufacturing, tourism and mining.

An interactive session was organised at the Grand Baie international conference centre where various business leaders were given the opportunity to ask Sassou-N’guesso questions about the investment opportunities in Congo.

“We want to promote investment in agro-industry and agriculture as our country is big with a lot of resources, especially land. Only 2 per cent of arable land is being exploited. We also want to better manage our 20 million hectares of forests where the woods are certified for exportation,” said Sassou-N’guesso.

He also highlighted the tourism sector, including eco-tourism, which he wants to develop and looks forward to learning from Mauritius.

“The coastal areas, tourist sites and flora and fauna of Congo can attract people as we want tourism to provide 10 per cent of our GDP.

Other sectors that need to be developed include mining industry as we are rich in natural resources such as copper, gold, zinc and petroleum,” he added.

However, the Congolese President stressed that though development is important, it should not be done at the cost of the environment.

“The impact on the environment should be taken into consideration. We are very strict about environmental impact studies that have to be carried out by
the industries,” he said.