Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo defended the ministry's budget at the National Assembly Saturday.

The Ministry of External Relations (MINREX) plans to fully integrate the country's citizens living abroad in the mainstream of national life in 2014. MINREX boss, Pierre Moukoko Mbonjo, told the press Saturday night breaking Sunday, after defending the Ministry's budget before the Budget and Finance Committee of the National Assembly, that managing Cameroonians abroad will be one of its key areas of interest.

This will be through the Ministry's third programme which deals with the integration of Cameroonians living abroad who would like to come back and settle and those that would like to have opportunities to invest. "We are going to work to ensure that the political commitment of the Head of State, Paul Biya, becomes a reality," Minister Moukoko said.

He noted that the FCFA 28.855 billion requested for 2014 slightly up from the FCFA 28.641 billion of 2013 will be used to strengthen the country's diplomacy through the implementation of three other programmes. These include one on enhancing bilateral cooperation potentials with objective to ensure the densification and diversification of Cameroon's actions towards its foreign partners and the other on boosting multilateral cooperation and decentralised cooperation with the goal of helping the country to take advantage at the international level, of the entry into force of the decentralisation policy to support local communities more efficiently in the establishment of partnerships with their foreign counterparts.

"There is also the governance and institutional support programme, which the Minister disclosed, will ensure the coordination and monitoring of activities between the central services of MINREX and the network of Diplomatic Missions and Consular Posts. "We are looking forward to receiving the financial means to be able to implement these programmes," Prof. Moukoko noted.