TECHNICAL MEETING WITH GREAT LAKE COMMODITY AND STEWARTS GRAIN TO SEAL A WIN-WIN ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DRC
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The consolidation of economic and commercial cooperation between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Australia through the companies Great Lake Commodity and Stewarts Grain specializing in several areas including agribusiness, grain trading, breeding and export, was at the center of a technical meeting chaired last week in Kinshasa by Benezeth Msafiri Kyakakala, Chief of Staff of the Minister of Foreign Trade, on behalf of Minister Julien Paluku Kahongya which further strengthens the economic and commercial diplomacy of the DRC.
On a mission to identify business opportunities in the Democratic Republic of Congo with a view to structuring agricultural investments, promoting local processing and facilitating access for products made in the DRC to foreign markets, including Australian ones, the companies Great Lake Commodity and Stewarts Grain already registered in the country have, through their managers, reassured the Congolese Government of their technical and financial capabilities to invest in the DRC.
Anxious to speed up things on the ground, the Government of the DRC has made 2,000 hectares of land available to these companies located in the territory of Songololo in the province of Kongo Central to carry out structuring agricultural projects; the Congolese State, through the Chief of Staff of the Minister of Foreign Trade, reassured them of the improvement of the business climate through the investment code and the Special Economic Zones regime as well as the elimination of so-called toxic taxes.
The expertise of Great Lake Commodity and Stewarts Grain will be used to make products made in DRC competitive on the Australian market by supporting the Congolese Control Office-OCC and local producers in several sectors, including soybean, cassava and pepper, in respecting the quality, quantity and conformity of products intended for export, indicated David Stewart and Daniel Kasereka Birere, respectively Director within these two companies.
In a short time, Australian milk and meat will be exported in large quantities to the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose capital Kinshasa constitutes a market of more than 15 million consumers, they added.
Note that a joint technical commission made up of experts from the Government and these companies has been set up to develop a road map to accelerate the realization of this partnership and to prepare the organization of the DRC-Australia Economic Forum which will soon take place in Canberra, the Australian capital.
