Chinese urged to invest in Cote d'Ivoire

ABIDJAN -- Cote d'Ivoire's Chamber of Commerce and Industry is urging Chinese investors to seize opportunities in the West African country, which is engaged in a reconstruction program following the deadly 2010-2011 post- election crisis.

"Cote d'Ivoire offers today many investment opportunities which we are asking you to take advantage of," the vice-chairman of Cote d'Ivoire's Chamber of Commerce, Nicolas Djibo, said on Friday when meeting with a delegation of Chinese economic operators in the economic capital Abidjan.

He stressed the country's strategic geographical positioning, the existence of a better industrial network that serves the region, modern infrastructure and abundant natural resources.

Djibo said Cote d'Ivoire is characterized by "a political, economic, legal and judicial environment that favors private investments."

He advised Chinese business operators to establish direct business relations with Cote d'Ivoire's private sector.

Speaking on the same occasion, the chairman of the General Confederation of Cote d'Ivoire Enterprises, Jean Kacou Diagou, called for "direct partnership" between the Chinese and Cote d'Ivoire private sectors.

He praised the Cote d'Ivoire government for adopting a new investment code, creating a single investment window and establishing a commercial court to facilitate the capital inflow into the country.

State corporations informed the Chinese investors about the opportunities in Cote d'Ivoire as well as the reforms that had been carried out in the coffee-cocoa industry.

On Thursday, the Chinese delegation participated in a government conference before meeting with President Alassane Ouattara.

The 100-member team arrived in Abidjan on Wednesday, representing 50 companies operating in agriculture, telecommunications, infrastructure, mining, electricity and construction sectors.

The Chinese businessmen were responding to an invitation by Ouattara, who visited China on July 17-20 during the 5th Ministerial Conference of China-Africa Cooperation, inviting Chinese businessmen to invest in Cote d'Ivoire.