The Minister of African Integration and Ivorians Abroad, Albert Flindé, reassured the Ivorian private sector on Monday, February 14, 2020 to go further by developing a strategy for implementing the Interim Economic Partnership Agreement ( APEI) in accordance with the National Development Plan (PND).

Minister Flindé, who was speaking in the context of an information and exchange meeting with the private sector on the implementation of the APEI since the effectiveness of the tariff dismantling in Côte d'Ivoire, specified that this strategy will be updated taking into account the COVID 19 health crisis, the various support from the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom as well as the new challenges facing the private sector, as part of a national plan for the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

“I would like to reassure all private sector operators, from captains to managers of very small businesses, that the Government remains very committed to their promotion and to the conquest of the world market, in particular the European and West African markets”, promised Mr. Flindé.

On behalf of Ivorian employers, the Executive Director of the General Confederation of Côte d'Ivoire Enterprises (CGECI), Stéphane Aka-Anghui, hoped that customs officers could have their eyes everywhere, especially on the side of the countries which have also started the dismantling, but especially on the side of their colleagues from ECOWAS member countries, sometimes tempted to want to rearm.

“This threat is the main fear of the private sector vis-à-vis this agreement. Show the same agility you did with the EU to preserve our preferential access to the European market,” he pleaded.

In response, the Minister of Budget and State Portfolio, Moussa Sanogo, noted that discussions on the second phase of the agreements should begin in 2021 with a view to in-depth reforms.

In August 2016, the Ivorian parliament ratifies the APEI between Côte d'Ivoire and the EU, which came into effect on December 6, 2019, allowing exports to enter the European market free of customs duties without interruption. , thanks to steady progress in the negotiations and discussions to prepare for the implementation of the agreement: signing in November 2008, conclusion of the regional agreement in 2014, ratification of the interim agreement in August 2016, establishment of the joint committee in 2017 and first phase of dismantling in 2019.

The exchange meeting aimed above all to promote the competitiveness of the Ivorian private sector and facilitate its integration into regional and world trade, through the improvement of its production, transmission and export capacities for goods and services.