CHINA-AFRICA COOPERATION FORUM IN BEIJING: INTERVENTION BY THE CONGOLESE MINISTER OF FOREIGN TRADE, JULIEN PALUKU KAHONGYA IN FRONT OF AFRICAN HEADS OF STATE, MEMBERS OF THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT, REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CHINESE PARTY AND CEO OF GRAN
The Democratic Republic of Congo is an important player in the implementation of the "Belt and Road" initiative developed by Chinese President Xi Jinping with the release of 50 billion US dollars to ensure the connectivity of the African continent,
and this, thanks to its strategic position with 9 neighboring countries which in turn are surrounded by 12 other neighboring countries which makes a total of 21 countries; statement by the Congolese Minister of Foreign Trade, Julien Paluku Kahongya, on behalf of President Félix Tshisekedi this Thursday in Beijing at the China-Africa Cooperation Forum.
Before the African Heads of State, the members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Party, the members of the Chinese Government and the heads of large Chinese companies and the Congolese delegation, Julien Paluku Kahongya detailed the Industrialization Master Plan of the DRC costed at 58.4 billion US dollars with 6 components including road, rail, port, airport, energy and special economic zones, hence the DRC is prepared to welcome the first Chinese pilot industrial zone, he insisted.
Welcoming this “Belt and Road” initiative which will boost economic growth and social transformation in Africa and the DRC in particular with the fight against poverty and the increase in production as well as exports;
the Minister of Foreign Trade also made it clear that through the DRC, connectivity is possible by passing through the majestic Congo River, 4,370 kilometers long, and by building the railway which would go from Kisangani in the East to Mombasa in Kenya.
To do this, a deep water bridge is being built in Banana at the mouth of the Congo River where it flows into the Atlantic Ocean and towards the south, the Lobito corridor which is also another point of connectivity with Central Africa and Africa as a whole, from where all these construction sites and infrastructure projects are part of this "belt and road" initiative, he added.
