Jean-Marie Bockel, the French State Secretary for Cooperation and the Francophonie will travel to Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon from September 30 to October 3, 2007.

During the Equatorial Guinea step, he will have talks with President Obiang Nguema on bilateral cooperation issues and on the promotion of the French language in that Spanish speaking-country that expressed its willingness to get closer to the Francophonie organization. Mr. Bockel will also meet with the French community in Bata and launch the building of the new French Cultural Center in that town.

In Cameroon, Mr. Bockel will meet with President Paul Biya on the eve of his visit to France. This step will also be the occasion to address issues relating to the bilateral cooperation between the two countries. France is the first donor of Cameroon. During his stay in Cameroon, the French State Secretary will first visit some urban development projects fund through the Debt Reduction and Development Contract and meet with people from the Franco-cameroonian business milieu. In the political capital, Yaounde, before presiding over the Standing Commission in charge of their bilateral cooperation, Mr. Bockel will sign with the Cameroonian Minister of External Relations two conventions of financing within the framework of the cooperation in the area of good governance (support to decentralization, cooperation in the policing area).

Moreover, after attending, on October 2, a dinner offered by the Cameroonian authorities, Mr. Bockel will visit the EI-Force project being implemented at the Sub-regional School of Awae within the framework of the defense cooperation. Finally, after a meeting with the Cameroonian civil society, he will travel to the Far-Northern part of the country, Maroua, where he will take part to the opening of the Makabaye Bridge and meet with the Ministry of Justice.

Source: French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs