Luanda - President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Félix Tshisekedi Tuesday in Benguela province stressed the role of Lobito Corridor at regional and international level.
Félix Tshisekedi was speaking after signing the agreement to transfer of the rail and logistics concession for the corridor to the Lobito Atlantic Railway consortium.
He stressed the role of the Lobito corridor in the transporting raw materials and other goods of the countries in the region.
The president said the use and the implementation of the instruments to facilitate trade and transport will contribute to the development of domestic and cross-border trade between the states.
"This agreement, whose ceremony marks the transfer of the rail service and supporting logistics, encourages the collective choice made to converge towards the integration of our peoples and our economies in order to bring sustainable and strong projects," he said.
He highlighted the interest of the agreement in its capacity to contribute to strengthening cooperation among Angola, DR Congo and Zambia.
The president said the deal will help consolidate peace and stability between the three countries, as well as facilitate greater fluidity of movement and favour the peaceful coexistence of the respective peoples, from an economic point of view.
In turn, Zambia's President, Hakainde Hichilema, also reiterated the importance of the corridor, particularly the role it could play in connecting the line of mineral reserves that links the copper belt between his country and the towns of Lumumbashi and Dola, in DRC, which should be built soon.
Apart from minerals, he mentioned the fact that the corridor will be open to areas such as agriculture, tourism and can provide a logistics hub that will facilitate business development in a shorter and faster way.
"We would like to secure Zambia's commitment to this project because of obvious economic benefits that the project could lock in," he said, adding it is an alternative route at a fair and clear cost.
He expressed Zambia's support to revolutionise the corridor as a hub for the economies and for improving the living standards of the people of these countries.
He expressed interest in seeing the three economies to move forward, doing business, and be able to transport not only raw materials, but also finished products, processed within Angola, DRC and Zambia.
He defended the need to overhaul the policies governing business favouring, border crossings and necessary taxes through electronic platforms in order to consolidate the process.
"We must move forward so that we can grow our economies rapidly and this growth is inevitable so that we can take care of the populations, especially the youth," he said. VC/AL/CRB/ADR/DAN/NIC
