This was during a courtesy and farewell visit granted by Minister Achille BASSILEKIN III to the Director of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) on Thursday 02nd September 2021.
While presenting his farewell messages to Mr. Antonio PEDRO, the audience also served as an opportunity for both parties to revisit the state of cooperation between the two structures as well as envisage better prospects some of which centered specifically on proposing a greater involvement of MINPMEESA in programs initiated by UNECA in the areas of industrialization with priority given to small production units such as SMEs as well as the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area and the promotion of the digital economy.
The identification of areas of common interest in which UNECA could carry out studies to guide the formulation of government policies and the organization of working sessions between the technical services of MINPMEESA and those of UNECA was also brought forth. It should be highlighted that these are efforts to examine ways and means of following up on some of the projects listed in the advocacy paper that was raised during the MINPMEESA Cooperation and Partnership Days that took place in Yaoundé from the 12th to the 14th of July 2021.
Speaking during the audience, Mr. Antonio stated that besides being an opportunity to bid farewell to his counterpart, this visit on his part was an opportunity to thank the Cameroonian government through Mr. Achille BASSILEKIN III with whom he had worked on several occasions and shares similar work roadmaps. He emphasized on the importance of the informal SME sectors which is at the heart of the economic eco-system of Cameroon and many central African countries. He also mentioned the fact that other domains such as the collaboration between Africa Finance Cooperation and Cameroon will also open various opportunities for SMEs to contribute towards Cameroon’s development. View points on Cameroon’s role in Central Africa with respect to industrialization and development were also highlighted.
Minister Achille BASSILEKIN III on his part stated that UNECA has carried out several important contributions for SMEs so as to ensure that they play an important role as concerns the acceleration of the transformation of the economic structure of Cameroon and also that they should have the necessary capacities so that entrepreneurship should also take the place that belongs to them in the development dynamism. He ended by stated that though Mr. Antonio is leaving Cameroon, UNECA office will still remain at the heart of the priorities of MINPMEESA’s given that this structure is strategic and has a great role to play in the advocacy paper formulated during the Cooperation and Partnership Days.