Central Africa: International Handicraft Exhibition Experts Set Tone
AllAfrica.com, Washington
Lukong Pius Nyuylime
Experts from member countries of the Central African sub-region, participants at the upcoming International Handicraft Exhibition (SIARC), set the pace for the Ministers conference yesterday when they began meeting at the Yaoundé Hilton to discuss and formulate a proposed policy for the handicraft sector in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC).
The meeting, whose opening ceremony witnessed the presence of three ministers in charge of handicraft, from the Central African Republic, Republic of Congo and Cameroon as well as the Secretary General of the Coordination Committee for the Development and Promotion of Handicraft (CODEPA), effectively lays the groundwork for a successful exhibition. In his speech during the opening ceremony, Cameroon’s Minister of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicraft, Laurent Serge Etoundi Ngoa, simply urged participants to be diligent in their deliberations so as to ensure a successful exhibition come Friday 25 when the exhibition effectively starts.
For three days running therefore, the experts who are working under the theme: “the development and promotion of handicraft in Central Africa”, will reflect on possibilities of enhancing the sector in a sustainable manner in a bid to make the sub-region the cradle of handicraft.
The exhibition that will stretch from 25 January to 02 February, 2008, will show case the best handicraft selected from countries of the sub-region besides providing occasion to reflect on how to boost the sector. According to Minister Etoundi Ngoa, 365 stands are already being constructed and 300 Cameroonian participants have already indicated their desire to take part in the exhibition.