SAUDI GAZETTE JEDDAH — A delegation from Burkina Faso led by Prime Minister Paul Kaba Thieba visited Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) on Tuesday in an attempt to encourage Saudi businessmen to explore investment opportunities in the African country, especially in agriculture, livestock and mining. The delegation included a number of ministers. Speaking at the meeting, Thieba said his country was implementing new infrastructure development plans and had launched several investment projects particularly relating to gold mining. He said Burkina Faso produces great amounts of gold, which is estimated at 40 tons a year, in addition to 130,000 tons of zinc annually. Pointing out that his country has flexible investment and economic regulations, Thieba called on Saudi investors to visit Burkina Faso and see for themselves opportunities for investment, particularly in agriculture. He said Burkina Faso is the top producer of cotton in Africa. "The coming phase will be more important for his country as it plans to attract more foreign investments. This is part of a plan to reduce poverty by at least 35 percent by creating more job opportunities for the youth," Thieba said. He said they were keen to collaborate with the JCCI to meet their expectations in terms of sustainable development. Ziyad Al-Bassam, deputy chairman of the JCCI, said the meeting discussed possible collaboration at the economic level as the two countries enjoy excellent political relations. He said the Kingdom was now focusing on a knowledge economy and therefore it worked on enhancing specialized industries in the country. He however expressed hopes for a "collective and balanced cooperation" between the two countries. Al-Bassam said the private sector in the two countries should tackle the responsibility of finding and developing bilateral economic relations.
