BRI “well-placed” in DR Congo: minister

KINSHASA, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) — The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), of which the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been a member since 2021, “is well-placed” in the African country, DRC minister of Foreign Trade Julien Paluku Kahongya has said.
The DRC “is preparing to capitalize a lot on China’s announcement (of the 10 partnership actions) so that we can be integrated with the BRI initiative,” the minister said Tuesday at a reception celebrating the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China held by the Chinese embassy in Kinshasa.
The BRI “is well-placed and suited in the DRC,” which is the “heart of Africa,” weaving fruitful links with its neighbors, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, the minister said.
He commended China as “a model” for developing countries. “The trajectory that China has followed is a lesson for African steps to achieve real development,” he said, reaffirming the DRC’s willingness to strengthen its comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with China.
At the recently concluded Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, leaders of the two countries reached multiple consensuses on promoting the China-DRC comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, he said.
Paluku said the DRC appreciates the 10 partnership actions proposed by China to jointly promote modernization between China and Africa.
The DRC government recently established a special task force focusing on China-DRC cooperation after the FOCAC summit. Paluku, co-presiding the task force with vice Prime Minister in charge of Transports Jean-Pierre Bemba, said the task force would open new horizons for the two countries. ■