Global political leaders, conservation experts and tourism sector leaders will gather in Kinshasa next year for a major Global Tourism Forum.
On Thursday, President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo met with Bulut Bagci, president of the Global Tourism Forum and both agreed the forum will be hosted in the DRC capital Kinshasa.
“It will be a great opportunity especially that 2020 is an exceptional year for the country that will celebrate its 60 years of existence,” Bulut said.
Next on June 30th, the Democratic Republic of Congo will celebrate its 60th Independence Anniversary – commemorating the country’s liberation from Belgium in 1960.
According to Bulut this forum will put the DRC on the international scene and boost tourism. The country hosts a population of 80 million people but has enormous untapped opportunities especially tourism.
Last year, the Global Tourism Forum was held in Angola from 23 to 25 May to promote investment and boost the tourism sector in the country.
President Tshisekedi has a new master plan for the country- first by getting rid of foreign military groups that have been at the centre of all insecurity in the country especially the Eastern parts.
Currently, his policy of joint military offensive against the foreign rebel groups is paying off especially with cooperation with Rwanda Defence Force. Several commanders of Rwandan FDLR rebels have been neutralized and the Ugandan ADF rebels have also been badly beaten and their command centres overrun.
Tshisekedi wants residents of the eastern part of the country to enjoy the festive season in total peace without fear of attacks from the rebels.
The Congolese leader also wants to revive the country’s economic potential in sectors such as Mining, Tourism, commerce and industrial sectors which have been latent because of insecurity.
The country is still recovering from a series of conflicts that broke out in the 1990s, creating a protracted economic and social slump.
According to the World Bank, DRC’s GDP growth in 2018 was 4.1 percent (compared to 3.7 percent in 2017), while the average rate of inflation was 27 percent (compared to 54 percent in 2017).
The Tshisekedi government has launched several sector reforms to boost governance in the management of natural resources and improve the business climate. Virtually all mining, oil, and forestry contracts awarded by the Government are now accessible to the public.
