A workshop to familiarise the law makers with the problems related to Economic Partnership Agreement ended in Yaounde on March 19.

In order to lay the foundation of a strong, developed and viable domestic economy while taking advantage of opportunities to establish economic cooperation ties with other countries, public authorities in Cameroon are exploring more ways and means to establish better economic partnerships in view of reaping more benefits from such partnerships.

It is against this backdrop that Cameroon’s Members of Parliament under the canopy of the Parliamentary Network for the Promotion of Investment and Partnership Agreements (REPICOP), Thursday March 19, 2015, organised a workshop to acquaint MPs with the problems, challenges, opportunities, constraints and potential benefits inherent in Economic Partnership Agreement and their implementation.

The President of the REPICOP, Hon. Banmi Emmanuel Dingha stated that the Parliament in July 2014 authorised the President of the Republic to ratify the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which has now become part of the legal corpus of Cameroon. This to him, therefore incumbent on them (MPs) to see what can come out from the agreement for the benefit of the population.

To the Secretary General of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT), Gilbert Didier Edoa, the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union instructed by the Head of State, is embedded with so many advantages. “You have all the inputs needed for production of goods produced by our enterprises and corporations that will lead to low cost and competitiveness in the market.

This is very important,” he noted. He explained that the world today is a whole market and producers need to be very competitive by offering low cost goods. The partnership, Edoa went on, spans for 15 years with 13 years of effective implementation and two years of laying the groundwork.

The Head of the European Union Delegation, Françoise Collet on her part, remained upbeat that the implementation of the EPA will be of great benefit to Cameroon as EU is providing technical support.

The workshop that was also attended by a cross section of Senators was officially opened on behalf of the House Speaker of the National Assembly, by one of the Vice Speakers, Hon. Theophile Baoro who called on government to accelerate the implementation of the EPA.