Minister Mark Simmonds, MP in visit in Cote d'Ivoire for ICI 2014
Foreign Officie Minister Simmonds is in Cote d'Ivoire to take part of the ICI 2014 Forum and to strenghten HLPP ties with Cote d'Ivoire
Minister Simmonds spoke in this terms after meeting with Prime Minister Duncan, this afternoon:
I am very pleased to have met His Excellency the Prime Minister. We followed up our discussions on deepening UK-Côte d’Ivoire bilateral relations since we last met in London in October. We discussed the detail of our UK-Côte d’Ivoire High Level Prosperity Partnership, including the key sectors where we can work together. One of those is financial markets, where TheCityUK are working with the Prime Minister’s office on developing capital markets in Côte d’Ivoire. We also discussed how the new mining code is leading to investment from top British mining companies and helping the rapid development of the mining sector in Côte d’Ivoire. We talked about cooperation to help Côte d’Ivoire build on existing reforms to improve the investment climate. The Prime Minister attended the Open Government Partnership in London and, as he and the President know, the focus was on transparency and eradicating corruption as being essential for driving global economic growth. Joining the Open Government Partnership would demonstrate Côte d’Ivoire’s commitment to good governance and transparency. It will also help attract sustainable investment. The Prime Minister and I also agreed on the importance of progress on security and reconciliation ahead of the elections in 2015. Political stability will be a vital part of underpinning sustainable investment in Côte d’Ivoire.