The Secretary General of the Ministry of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Integration and the Diaspora, Daouda Diabaté, proceeded Tuesday, June 1, 2021 in Abidjan, by videoconference, at the opening of intergovernmental negotiation sessions between Côte d’Ivoire and the Federal Republic of Germany, in the presence of the German Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, Ingo Herbert.
During this ceremony, he, at the start of his speech, conveyed the thanks ”of the Minister of State Kandia Camara to his German counterpart, for having facilitated this important meeting.
According to him, this Ivorian-German negotiation session is part of the effective strengthening of the excellent and dynamic relations of friendship and cooperation that exist between the two countries.
Mr. Diabaté specified that the resumption in October 2019 of intergovernmental negotiations after more than 17 years of interruption materialized by the signing in December of the same year, by a cooperation agreement in the amount of 60 billion francs. CFA, intended to finance reforms in the renewable energy sector and the signing of two technical and financial cooperation agreements amounting to 20 billion CFA francs, respectively on June 22 and December 11, 2020.
These agreements relate to the financing of phase 2 of the program to promote the agricultural economy in the amount of 5.9 billion CFA francs, intended to strengthen the phase 2 health system at a total cost of 8 billion francs. CFA.
He also pointed out that the Comoé and Taï national parks have received funding amounting to 6.550 billion CFA francs. As part of the fight against Covid-19, the German government has provided impacted Ivorian SMEs with financing support at a cost of FCFA 19.6 billion.
Daouda Diabaté recalled that during the Ivorian-German intergovernmental consultations of September 17, 2020, the German side noted consistency and adequacy between the development priorities of the Ivorian government, defined through the six priority axes of the PND 2021-2025, and the five crucial terms identified by the German side to strengthen the partnership between the two countries.
For him, the intergovernmental negotiations of today aim in particular to agree on the practical modalities of implementation of the new development cooperation policy initiated by the German government around the three crucial and priority terms retained by Côte d’Ivoire. .
These negotiations will be an opportunity for these two countries to present their commitment and their expectations in the context of the implementation of government projects linked to the 2021-2025 PND, he stressed.
In conclusion, he thanked all the experts from the two countries for the preparatory work for these intergovernmental negotiations, the heads of the German cooperation and development agencies present in Côte d’Ivoire as well as the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Côte d ‘Ivoire, for its actions in favor of strengthening cooperation between Côte d’Ivoire and the Federal Republic of Germany. He praised the Ambassador of Côte d’Ivoire in Germany, Philippe Mangou, for his involvement in the preparation of these intergovernmental negotiations.
As for the Ambassador of the German Federal Republic in Côte d’Ivoire, he indicated that the resumption of intergovernmental negotiations which has now become a tradition is due to the progress made by Côte d’Ivoire in its post-crisis reconstruction and to the leadership vision of President Alassane Ouattara and German Chancellor Angela Merkel within the framework of the Compact with Africa program.
For him, this relationship of bilateral cooperation between the two countries has never ceased by what his country has carried out since 1962, a solid program of bilateral cooperation without interruption even during the period of crisis in Côte d’Ivoire.
These intergovernmental negotiations which begin today are an excellent opportunity to deepen cooperation between the two countries through partnerships to encourage the populations of the two countries but also an opportunity to officially announce the allocation of new resources relating to Cooperation in favor of Côte d’Ivoire, said the German diplomat.
This session of intergovernmental negotiations ends on Wednesday 02 June 2021.
Source: Agence Ivoirienne de presse