The Austria – Côte d’Ivoire Friendship Society (ACFS), represented by its President, Dr. Christoph Mayer, and its vice-president, Dr. Michael Kollik, made a working visit to Côte d’Ivoire from 7 to 13 July 2018. The aim of this visit was to follow up the evening reception of 21 June 2018 in Vienna and to pursue the objectives of the ACFS.
Part of the trip was dedicated to visit S.E. Largaton G. Ouattara, Cabinet Chief in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, former Ambassador of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire in Vienna and co-founder and first Honorary President of the ACFS, in order to inform him personally of the successful event on June 21, 2018 and about the further development steps of the ACFS.
A conversation with Mr. Emmanuel Essis, Director-General of the State Investment Promotion Agency (CEPICI) and since the government reshuffle on 10 July 2018 Secretary of State for Private Investments, aimed to prepare the next steps for securing investments from Austria. Mr. Essis, who made his first appointment on the day following his nomination as a member of the government with the ACFS, traveled to Vienna on 21 June 2018 to present to Austrian companies the numerous investment opportunities in Côte d’Ivoire.
In detailed discussions with the head of the UNIDO mission for Côte d’Ivoire and Togo, Mr. Tidiane Boye, the next steps for granting observer status to the ACFS in the Industrial Development Board and the General Conference of UNIDO were discussed. Other issues were the role of the Austrian export industry in the further industrialization of Côte d’Ivoire, in particular in the areas of renewable energy, infrastructure, agro-industry and technical education.
