Emergency plan, CAN projects are top priority- Minister

The Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT), Louis Paul Motaze, says the 2016 and 2019 African Cup of Nations are priority projects which must be executed within the context of Emergency Plan.

Motaze made the remark while addressing collaborators at the Annual Conference of officials of central and devolved services of MINEPAT that took place in Yaounde recently.

The conference was pegged on the theme “MINEPAT Input to Government Action Regarding Economic Policy and Regional Development”.

According to Motaze, projects for CAN and the Emergency Plan must be well executed so that the living conditions of Cameroonians could be improved.
He equally pledged the execution of structural projects within the sphere of the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper, GESP.

The Minister urged his collaborators to use their various services and ensure the judicious execution of such projects.

Motaze lauded the fact that government is resilient to the global economic crunch that is characterised by the fall of oil prices in the world market.

He said the country was able to absorb the economic global shock and the negative economic impacts of the Boko Haram insurgency because of its diversified economy.

It was because of such resilience; he went on, that Cameroon was able to maintain a 6-percent growth of Gross Domestic Product, GDP. He equally held that inflation has been confined to 3 percent.

The annual conference took place at a time when most infrastructural projects are being executed at snail pace, with road infrastructure in bad shape due to non-application and poor execution of maintenance contracts.

It was in this perspective that the Minister called on all stakeholders to ensure a meticulous execution of the 2016 investment budget. Over 60 percent of the 2016 investment budget is allocated to infrastructural projects.

The annual conference was equally taking place at a time that Cameroon is going to lose much customs revenue to the Economic Partnership Agreement that provides for tariff-free importation of goods from the European Union to Cameroon.

Thus, officials were expected to execute every situation and draw the best lessons for the country.

Participants at the conference listened to presentations on; “challenges in the conduct of government action, development strategy, planning and regional development: stakes, challenges and prospects rationalising the mobilisation of funding for the development input from external funding and coordination of economic investors in devolved services: the role of MINEPAT”.

They were expected to come out with a road map to better coordinate the implementation of government’s economic policy so that Cameroon can trump as an emerging country by 2035.

Special attention will be paid to projects that accelerate growth and create jobs.