India, Congo discuss co-operation in mining, exploration

The Dollar Business Bureau India and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on Thursday, discussed plans for exploring mutual areas of cooperation in the field of mining as key ministries from both sides met each other in New Delhi. A business delegation of the DRC, led by Raymond Tshibanda N'Tungamulongo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, DRC, met the Indian Minister of Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar. In his address, the Indian minister assured the visiting delegation of providing a full-fledged financial and technical support to the DRC in areas of capacity building and skill development. Stating that the bilateral relations between India and DRC have been friendly, the minister said that both the countries would further strengthen bilateral engagement in various spheres, while continuing the existing cooperation. Referring to the rich mineral resources in DRC, the minister hoped that the cooperation between the two countries in this sector would give mutual benefits and will further extend assistance in exploration of resources. “Our industry would also be interested in availing opportunities in the mining sector in addition to procurement of various metals and we would be interested to know about existing mining opportunities and any related studies conducted on further exploration works,” said the minister, according to an official release. The minister also expressed India’s readiness to offer expertise to assist DRC in various priority areas identified by them and also welcomed concrete proposals for collaboration in the identified sectors. Responding to the Indian minister, Tshibanda N'Tungamulongo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, DRC, said that India, the largest democracy in the world, is an important country for the DRC. Referring to the IMF data, the minister said that Congo is one of the fastest growing countries and it is “the second largest country in Africa area-wise and the fourth largest one population-wise”. While stating that a lot of complementarities exist between India and the DRC, the minister pointed out the need to strengthen them through translation of the vision of both the countries into a concrete action plan in the coming weeks. The minister said that the DRC is also keen to make better utilization of the new initiatives taken by the new Indian government in the area of mining and also expressed their country’s willingness to seek inputs and cooperation from India on that front.    

May 15, 2015 | 3:19 pm IST.