FCFA 30,017,000,000 is the Ministry of External Relation’s draft budget for the 2016 financial year which was defended by the Minister Delegate to the Minister of External Relations in charge of Cooperation with the Islamic World, Adoum Gargoum, before the Committee on Finance and Budget of the National Assembly on November 26, 2015.

With a running budget of FCFA 28.5 billion and an investment budget FCFA 1.5 billion, the draft budget drops by FCFA 588 million when compared to the FCFA 30,605,000,000 budget allocated in 2015. Minister Gargoum explained that the draft budget covers four programmes aimed, respectively, at promoting bilateral cooperation potential, boosting multilateral cooperation and decentralised cooperation, managing Cameroonians abroad as well as ensuring governance and institutional support.

While acknowledging the prevailing complex nature of the international scene marked by the upsurge in terrorism to which Cameroon is also paying a heavy tribute, Minister Gargoum underscored the need to address these security challenges while not losing sight of the country’s need to advance economically so as to become an emerging country by 2035. To that effect, key actions in 2016 will include expanding the diplomatic and consular map of the country while consolidating traditional friendship ties.

Newly opened diplomatic missions in India, Turkey, Angola, Dubai, Kenya and Bouar will effectively go functional while fact-finding economic missions will be deployed to areas and countries with high growth potentials. He was assisted by the representative of the Vice Prime Minister, Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Relations with Assemblies.