Brussels Prime Minister Rudi Vervoort on Friday concluded a one-week visit to Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, at the head of an economic, academic and political mission.
“The Congolese political authorities are really waiting to renew links with Belgium,” he said, “and the number of ministers present at the various activities proves this.”
“The main message was ‘come back, come back to Congo, we still have beautiful pages of history to write together’,” the Brussels Prime Minister said at the end of the mission, his first official visit to the DRC.
On the economic side, it is still too early to assess the results of the visit, according to hub.brussels, which coordinated the mission for the three regions.
Contacts have been made, both business to business and business-to-government, Vervoort said. Four participating businesses had meetings with high-level officials in the Congolese Transport Ministry, and four others with the Energy Ministry, which augurs well for potential collaboration, Belga notes.
“Symbolically,” the idea was to show “that Belgium was in a position to return, that there was a real will to set foot in Congo again,” the Brussels Prime Minister said.
