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PM delivers remarks in Dakar, Senegal
I’m delighted to be here in Senegal, a longstanding development partner of Canada.
Over the past few days I have had a chance to meet with some very interesting people and exchange ideas with officials from Canadian firms doing business here. Yesterday I announced brand new measures to help our friends in Senegal, those who are going through a very tough humanitarian situation.
I also had the opportunity to visit a vocational training centre, where people can develop their skills and learn a trade. Because of Canada’s development assistance, young people here have been able to work on Senegal’s national geomatics plan, and in fact, we’ve just signed an agreement in this area. This type of initiative not only helps Canadian businesses to identify opportunities, it also creates long-term jobs for the people of Senegal.
And it is in this spirit of cooperation that we can achieve concrete results for our two countries. Today I have the great pleasure, we have the great pleasure of signing together and of course announcing that we have concluded negotiations towards a foreign investment protection and promotion agreement. This historic agreement will make it easier for Canadians to do business in Senegal and will help increase trade between our two countries.
We’ve also concluded negotiations toward an agreement to facilitate air transportation between our two countries. Once again, this is a significant measure to encourage trade, investment and tourism between Canada and Senegal.
As you know, negotiating new economic agreements and opening up new export markets are key elements of our plan to create jobs, spur growth and deliver long-term prosperity for all Canadians. I hope we can work together for many years to come, Mr. President, on such shared interests as democracy, governance and human rights. And that is exactly what we’ll do very soon in Kinshasa at the International Francophonie Forum. And finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the President for the great honour he has bestowed upon me today on behalf of the relation between Canada and Senegal.
Once again I would like to thank my hosts, the Senegalese people, the residents of Dakar and President Sall for their wonderful welcome and their generosity Thank you very much.
