Kinshasa, August 7th, 2021 (CPA).- The participants in the forum on agriculture, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture recommended, Friday at the end of their 3 (three) days’ work to the government, to » call on importing economic operators to invest within a well-defined period in local production instead of continuing to import. They also proposed a series of recommendations, in particular the abolition of certain administrative facilities and exemptions, to make them revenue-generating acts; the introduction of a tax on improper imports of fishery and livestock products, to discourage importers as well as to promote the synergy of different projects for good coordination and consultation. The participants also invited the Congolese State to play its role of coordinator and support in all projects and programs evolving in the sector; to ensure certified mapping and to produce statistics of projects and investors for effective monitoring. They also called on the government to ensure human capacity building, acquire fishing boats, and adequately deal with requests and requests addressed to it and those intended for technical and financial partners through it. As for operators in this sector, they are called upon to be identified with the Ministry of Fisheries and provincial services, before agreeing to be accompanied for professionalization. Donors are welcome for the revival of this sector, they are asked to constitute themselves as the engine of development of the country by using the strategic plan, and by fitting into their orientations, their policies, their strategies as well as their Goals. As a reminder, the specific objectives pursued by the forum were, in particular, to identify the real problems of breeding, fishing and aquaculture in order to identify possible solutions; encourage entrepreneurship; to develop and produce the strategic plan as well as its operational plan; strengthen the legal and regulatory framework of the fishing sector as well as identify and create mechanisms for mobilizing financial resources.
The government will work to translate the resolutions envisaged in this forum into action.
The Secretary-General at the Ministry of Agriculture, Evariste Bushab Bopeming, who chaired the forum’s closing ceremony on Friday in Kinshasa, reassured that the government will work to translate the proposed resolutions into action.
« The event is for the government a new start for improving the living conditions of populations living mainly from fishing, breeding and aquaculture. It also gives us the hope of ensuring food and nutritional security for the Congolese population ”, indicated Mr. Bushab, before paying tribute to the President of the Republic, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, who made it possible to hold the this meeting of players in the fishing sector from different provinces of the country. ACP/