Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Burundi
On Thursday May 30, 2024, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation Mr Ferdinand Bashikako received in audience a delegation led by the Special Representative of the Chinese Government for African Affairs His Excellency Mr LIU YUXI in the meeting room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation.
The Permanent Secretary welcomed the Special Representative of the Chinese Government and his delegation, wishing him a good and pleasant stay in our country Burundi, a country of milk and honey, a country of a thousand and prominences, a country of a thousand and one opportunities particularly in the city of Bujumbura, economic capital of the country on the shores of Lake Tanganyika. The Permanent Secretary informed those distinguished visitors that security reigns throughout the country, the entire population Burundian as well as all the foreigners in Burundi, The Diplomatic and Consular Missions, Regional and International Organizations as well as Non-Governmental Organizations go about their daily activities throughout the national territory of Burundi and in complete tranquility. He informed that peace and security are closely related to economic development and that is the reason why, in terms of economic development, the Government of Burundi is moving forward in its fight against poverty. Concrete actions have been targeted and are recorded in the revised National Development Plan PND 2023-2027 as well as the vision of Burundi as an emerging country in 2040 and a developed country in 2060.
The implementation of the National Development Plan with a view to achieving the objectives of the Vision of Burundi as an emerging country in 2040 and a developed country in 2060 aims for a peaceful Burundi where everyone is adequately fed, everyone lives in decent housing, every child has access to quality education, every adult has access to a decent job, protection for all is ensured and no one dies from an avoidable cause. The Burundian economy will be supported by the quality infrastructure and will be characterized by an agro-industrial sector competitive on international markets, a mining sector exploited for the benefit of society and a diversified, efficient and modern services sector.
In that plan, the agricultural sector constitutes one of the key priorities at all levels. The concentration of efforts in that sector is amply justified because it provides the mass employment and the multifaceted benefits such as food security and increases the export revenues. In other sectors, Burundi has significant resources and capacities which are now being mobilized for strengthening the dynamics of its economic growth through production and access to energy, improvement infrastructure, sanitation and stabilization of the macro-economic framework, development of the industrial sector, environmental protection and resilience to the climate change. The Permanent Secretary informed that Burundi is in the process of organizing free, transparent, inclusive and peaceful legislative elections in 2025. The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) has already started preparations for this important event.
In their exchanges, the two personalities spoke about various subjects of common interest including the bilateral relations between Burundi and China, mutual support files, the programmatic cooperation plan and other subjects falling within the framework of the multilateral cooperation