Gabon Seeks Cooperation With Russia, Urges Investors To Not Be Deterred By Unrest - Envoy

Gabon seeks cooperation with Russia, especially in areas where Moscow has "proven expertise," and Russian investors should not be held back from entering the Gabonese market because of the political unrest earlier this year, Gabon's Ambassador to Russia Johanna Rose Mamiaka told Sputnik on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th September, 2019) Gabon seeks cooperation with Russia, especially in areas where Moscow has "proven expertise," and Russian investors should not be held back from entering the Gabonese market because of the political unrest earlier this year, Gabon's Ambassador to Russia Johanna Rose Mamiaka told Sputnik on Wednesday.

The ambassador outlined the three economic sectors of Gabon's interest where Russia has "proven expertise" to share with the African country - such is agriculture, forest management, and hydrocarbons and mining.

"In all these sectors we can easily point areas where Russia stands out - like agriculture, for instance. We know that over the past years, agriculture developed significantly in Russia due to the Western sanctions which boosted this development. Gabon is really impressed by this, and we want to learn from you in order to see how we can reach food self-efficiency and develop this strategically important fundamental sector," Mamiaka said.

She added that Gabon and Russia both are rich in natural resources, particularly oil, iron minerals and forest, "which makes Russia a partner of choice for successful conclusion of several projects in Gabon.

"

"Sectors in which we cooperate are hydrocarbons and minerals. But we want to bring Russian companies to intervene in all those areas that I mentioned, to get off the beaten track of raw materials to enable our cooperation in other sectors," the ambassador said.

Mamiaka stressed that investors should not be afraid of coming to Gabon, despite the attempted military coup that the country experienced in January.

"There are no countries that are safe from social unrest. And the investors should not be stopped by that. Otherwise they should not do business with the EU states, for example, as terrorist threat was rather present in Europe for the past years. We should not focus only on the issues of security, which is indeed a drag for cooperation and national development. But you cannot leave as soon as there are some difficulties, because as soon as you leave, others will take your place," Mamiaka said.

The ambassador's remarks come ahead of the inaugural Russia-Africa Summit, scheduled to take place in the Russian city of Sochi in late October.