Burundi keen to establish strong ties with UAE, GCC
Antoinette Batumubwira, Burundi's Minister of External Relations and Cooperation, who is on a visit to Abu Dhabi, told WAM that her meeting yesterday with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE's Foreign Minister, was positive and would pave the way for the resumption of mutual cooperation in various fields.
"We also discussed current developments in Somalia, Sudan and some other African countries. I further briefed Sheikh Abdullah on efforts being exerted to cement security and stability in Burundi in the wake of prolonged years of civil and ethnic strife," she said.
Ms. Batumubwira said the UAE would send a high-level delegation for a round-table conference, scheduled to be held mid-March in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura.
She praised the UAE for the support it had provided to her country. "In mid eighties of the previous century, the Abu Dhabi Development Fund has built the firs sugar factory in Burundi." The Minister urged UAE businessmen to tap the "huge resources" available in her country in the fields of gold, diamond precious metal and oil exploration, agriculture and tourism.
She said after UAE he would embark on visits to Qatar and Saudi Arabia "to apprise senior officials there of Burundi's plans to lure foreign investments and forge direct economic and investment links" with the private sectors and businessmen.
She revealed that her government had offered Bujumbura's airport and seaport, tea, coffee and sugar plants for privatisation.
The Burundi's Minister pointed out that her country was considering resumption of diplomatic ties with the GCC countries. "We are planning to open an embassy in one of the GCC states as the only embassy we have in the Arab world is in Cairo," she maintained.
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