BUJUMBURA November 19th (ABP) – The President of the Republic of Burundi, Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye proceeded on Thursday, November 18, 2021 at the Kigobe Congress Center, to the official launch of the activities of the national forum on the development of Burundi organized by the Presidency of the Republic of Burundi under the theme: “Make Burundi an emerging country by 2040.”
That forum saw the participation of the President of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, the President of the Supreme Court, members of the government, members of the diplomatic and consular corps accredited in Bujumbura, representatives of technical and financial partners, parliamentarians, and others.
In his opening speech, the Head of State said that this first edition of the national forum on the development of Burundi fits well with the ambitions of the government which aim to gradually lift the Burundians out of poverty and increase the competitiveness of the Burundian economy.
According to President Ndayishimiye, that meeting is of capital importance for Burundi, explaining that it constitutes a privileged framework for exchange and dialogue between Burundian intellectuals living in the country and abroad wishing to contribute on issues of sustainable and inclusive development of the country. It is also an opportunity to review specific policies in different sectors, make a critical analysis of their implementation and decide on recommendations and tracks of action plans on which the thematic groups that will be implemented place at the end of this forum will work.
According to the President of the Republic of Burundi, the resources necessary for the development of Burundi are available by the grace of God. He cited rich soil and subsoil, the country’s geographic position, intelligent Burundians and others and that there is no reason Burundi should be classified as a poor country. He also added that the “responsible and hardworking” government of Burundi is firmly committed to its fight against poverty, with a view to accelerating economic growth in a sustained, sustainable and inclusive manner to reach the level of an emerging country middle income.
The Burundian number one specified that to achieve that development, special efforts and another way of working with the participation of all citizens are necessary. He also added that the combination and coordination of the forces of all actors in socio-economic life will guarantee access for all citizens to the country’s resources and make them profitable for the benefit of all.
According to the Head of State, to embark on development, one must first have a common understanding of the causes of underdevelopment in Burundi which must be explored in the history of Burundi and also in the socio-cultural life of Burundian. To achieve the development of the country, we also need a determined people, social cohesion as well as a responsible government which not only manages public affairs with due diligence, but also which is capable of ensuring the direction of activities economic conditions of the country, he insisted.
He pointed out some challenges related to the instability of the macroeconomic framework, but indicated that business opportunities are not lacking in Burundi especially in strategic sectors including industrial mining, agro-industry infrastructure, ecotourism, vocational education, social housing, logistics, health care, energy and ICT. He took this opportunity to invite Burundians to invest in their country and if they happen to invest abroad, to do so in the interest of making profits for Burundi.
He also took up the challenge of persevering in certain vices and bad habits of the past. According to him, to break with these vicissitudes of the past, we must have an awareness campaign aimed at all citizens and particularly administrative and technical officials at all levels of the organization of the State to register in the logic of sustainable and integral development.
The Head of State invited the technical and financial partners to continue to support Burundi on its development path. He expressed his satisfaction with the United Nations system in Burundi, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Union, China, Russia, the International Monetary Fund which, in recent days, have been very attentive to the issue of economic recovery and the well-being of the Burundians.