By Ndumbe Bell Joseph Gaston in Douala
The President of the Chamber of Commerce has informed the Indian business community in a visit to Cameroon that they should take advantage to reinforce trade relations with Cameroon business actors as a regional economic powerhouse and to work beyond Cameroon’s borders as a member of the Pan African Common market (ZLECAF).
The representative of the President of the Chamber, Talla Kuate and in his capacity as the Section President of Industries of the Chamber, made these remarks at the Chamber of Commerce head-quarter precincts. The Chamber played host to a joint delegation of Indian business actors sourced from the Confederation of Indian Industries (C.I.I) and the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (C.W.E.I.C), last Monday, September 23, in Cameroon’s economic capital, Douala.
Speaking for the President of the Chamber, Christophe Eken, Talla Kuate also regretted the widening trade imbalance which is in favour of India and asked the Indians to open up opportunities for the Cameroonian business community to export their wide variety of products scaled from mineral or subterranean products to that of agro-industry and the likes.
“During the year 2023 the trade balance between Cameroon and India reached FCFA 291.4 billion while it was (only) FCFA 37 billion in 2022. This reveals a deficit of FCFA 254 billion over a period of one year (caused by) a drop in Cameroonian exports to India in 2023”, Talla said.
In another highlight, Talla stated that entry visas to India by Cameroonian businessmen needs to be redressed and that Indian businessmen are coming to Cameroon to meet a dynamic workforce that they will not regret.
The High Commissioner, Vijay Khandoja of the third biggest economy in the world who was conspicuously present, responding to issues raised, said after his 22-day stay in Cameroon, he finds that business moves a bit faster here. He stated that they have a long-term objective to see that the economies of both nations attain significant growth, that is why the delegation which he introduced in detail was meticulously chosen to do business across Africa.
Vijay acknowledged the importance of face to face or B to B discussions and said for the trade imbalance that existed, it was for Cameroonian business actors to take advantage of the opportunities that exist for them in India. He called these opportunities ‘complementarities’ meaning that there are products in a variety of domains in Cameroon that are needed in India and vice-versa.
The High Commissioner in the presence of the Consul of India, Ravi Kumar in Douala, said his chat with Prime Minister, Dion Ngute was very fruitful. They delved on businesses related issues to a list of priorities including that of minerals, healthcare, education among others. India now occupies the position of third largest trading partner to Cameroon.
Concerning the Visa issue, Vijay announced that visas of Cameroonian businessmen can now be obtained in less than 24 hours from home digitally, so the Indian government is doing all in its power to facilitate the movement of persons and goods between them.
Ajah Jain who was introduced as the head of the business delegation in Cameroon said after Côte d’Ivoire, they are to go to Chad after Cameroon within a space of eight days that started on September 18. He said out of the 54 countries, 21 of them are in the Commonwealth including Cameroon so, this is a golden opportunity to have a huge market, he observed.
In a major highlight, the head of the pilot incubation centre (PIC), like his Indian counterpart also made an elaborate run-down of the Chamber’s achievements in training the youth into having an early DNA in agro – industry.
One of the achievers of the pilot Incubation Centre among others, Teuwa Kouam Carelle has established as the General Manager of a fruit transformation enterprise and who spoke of her prospective projects.