ICI 2014 Forum Presented In London At The UK-Côte d'Ivoire Trade & Investment Forum To Attract British Investors

Over 350 British and Ivorian traders were gathered in London on October 30, 2013, to discuss key investment sectors of Ivorian economy.

Chaired by Prime Minister of the Republic of the Ivory Coast, Daniel Kablan Duncan, the meeting intended to present British investors the country assets. The meeting also invited investors to take part in the Invest in Côte d'Ivoire Forum "ICI 2014" in Abidjan from January 29 to February 1st, 2014, which was presented as "a unique opportunity for British companies to invest in Côte d'Ivoire".

Côte d'Ivoire, An Attractive And Trustful Market For Investment

According to the Doing Business 2014 report from the World Bank published this week, Côte d'Ivoire is part of the top 10 business reformers in the world. Mr. Daniel Kablan Duncan, Prime minister of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire highlighted the priorities of his country: investment in peace, stability and security. Indeed, the Government intends to make Côte d'Ivoire a more

structurally industrialized country through three major governance orientations:

- Efficient management of public resources
- Sustainable efforts of transparency
- Improvement and stabilisation of the macro-economic framework

Investing in Côte d'Ivoire: an attractive prospect for British companies

Various panels discussed the government and national institutions policies to make Côte

d'Ivoire the most attractive market in West Africa, around three key sectors:

- Agriculture, agro-processing and manufacturing
- Extractive industries
- Infrastructure and Public-Private partnerships (PPPs)

UK-Côte d'Ivoire cooperation, a growing institutional and private dynamic

With around £2.5 billion invested by British economic actors in 2012, the United Kingdom is the 2nd investor in Côte d'Ivoire after France. A number of British companies are already well settled in Côte d'Ivoire : Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, Globalink, Randgold Resources, Standard Charted are some of the many private actors enhancing UK contribution to the National Development Plan of Côte d'Ivoire.

Prime Minister Duncan addressed an urgent appeal to UK companies and announced key

decisions to strenghten the British presence in Côte d'Ivoire:

- A permanent return of the UK embassy in Abidjan in the near future

- The project to re-establish British Airways services

- The establishment of a UK-Côte d'Ivoire Business Council to create a framework for

businessmen to exchange. Such an institution had already been launched in the USA, Canada and India.

The forum conclusions fit perfectly with ICI 2014 Forum's main theme, "The Private Sector, a lever for successful regional growth" and Prime Minister Duncan officially announced the presence of a City UK delegation at ICI 2014 Forum in January 2014.

For more information: www.ici2014.com
Press contact
Khatidja KASSAM, Hopscotch Système Africa
Tel.: 331 41 34 20 73
[email protected]