King Mohammed VI and President of the Republic of Congo HE. Denis Sassou N’Guesso launched, Monday at the port of Yoro in Brazzaville, the construction works of an equipped fishing unloading site, a project that enshrines the Royal Vision of South-South cooperation based on the exchange of knowledge, skills, expertise and resources.
A further illustration of the close and privileged links between Morocco and the Republic of the Congo, this project reaffirms the ambition of both parties to consolidate their relations in the field of fisheries and the preservation of resources and the protection of the marine environment, to stimulate cooperation in the various branches of activity of their fishing industries, and in particular the promotion of small-scale fishing, and to improve the living and working conditions of the small-scale fishing community.
Worth some 30 million dirhams, the future unloading site at the port of Yoro, the subject of an agreement signed today before HM the King and President Denis Sassou N’Guesso, will be carried out on a plot of 1.7 ha, with a covered area of 2.250 ha. It provides for the construction of maritime protection works and superstructures linked to the handling, packaging, marketing and processing of small-scale fishery products, including a fish market, a cold storage area, socio-collective spaces, administrative offices, 150 fishermen’s shops, mechanical and boat repair workshops and a nursery for children.
This socio-economic project, which will be carried out within 24 months, is meant to contribute to the recovery of the small-scale fishing sector, through the organization and supervision of the profession, the enhancement and improvement of products’ quality, and the promotion of the living and working conditions of small-scale fishermen.
It will also enable the creation of new jobs, the fight against poverty, the optimization of the economic performance of small-scale fishing, the increase in beneficiaries’ incomes, and the improvement of health and hygiene conditions.
The project testifies to Morocco’s determination to support the economic and social development of the Republic of the Congo, as part of a win-win partnership, as well as its willingness to further deepen this type of partnership through the diversification and expansion of areas of cooperation, in addition to the implementation of innovative instruments enabling the Kingdom to share with brotherly African countries the singular expertise it has acquired in sectors that create wealth and jobs.
Upon their arrival at the future unloading site, HM the King and President Denis Sassou N’Guesso were notably greeted by Congolese officials and the minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Rural Development, Waters and Forests.
(MAP)