DRC: Tshisekedi instructs the government to provide the general management of the ZES agency with the means for its operation
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Rédaction Kinshasa
December 3, 2022 at 18:17
During the 79th meeting of the Council of Ministers, which he chaired on Friday, December 2, by videoconference, Head of State Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi discussed the need for Special Economic Zones (SES), which form the 7th pillar relating to the industrialization master plan that the government developed and adopted in 2021 as a reference document of its industrial policy.
The President of the Republic indicated that in order to take charge of the various activities related to the acquisition of sites, the conduct of feasibility studies, the construction of basic infrastructure of single-shops, security but also the improvement of the business climate; an amount estimated at US$1.3 billion for mobilization of financial resources will have to result from the implementation of the Special Economic Zones (ZES).
Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde and the Minister of Industry Julien Paluku Kahongya were encouraged at the same time by Félix Tshisekedi to finalize the report on the establishment of the Special Economic Zones Financing Fund provided for in the Government Program and submit it at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers.
In addition, the Head of State instructed the Minister of Budget, Aimé Boji Sangara and the Minister of Finance, Nicolas Kazadi Kadima, to make the means provided for by the various legal texts available to the Board of Directors of the Directorate-General of the Agency for Special Economic Zones (AZES), to ensure its proper functioning and allow it to achieve its objectives.
It should be noted that the Special Economic Zones in the Democratic Republic of Congo are governed by Law No. 14/022 of 07 July 2014 fixing the ZES regime in the DRC.
The purpose of this law is to "promote investment through the creation of special economic zones", in accordance with Article 34(3) of the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.