Dec 15, 2020(Nyamilepedia) — The South Sudan government announced that it will hold a conference next year to attack foreign investors in the country.
The Minister of Investment Dr. Dhieu Mathok on Monday told reporters in Juba that President Kiir is expecting the next year to be a year of investment, adding that he has directed the economic cluster to start preparations for an investment forum.
“The President proposed that the next year 2021 is going to be an investment year,” Dr. Dhieu Mathok declared.
The conference will showcase the opportunities in the country such as petroleum, minerals, agriculture and livestock, among others, which are likely to attack investors to the country.
The minister said that his ministry will submit a program of the ministry and the program for the investment year on Wednesday during their weekly meetings.
“We agreed with the Vice President for the Economic Cluster that the ministry of investment will submit on Wednesday during the weekly meeting of the cluster a program of the ministry and the program for the investment year that is 2021,” Dr. Mathok told journalists in Juba.
South Sudan had held its first investors’ conference in the year 2013 which attracted more than 250 multinational companies.
The 2013 South Sudan Investment Conference attendees explored various sectors of the economy that require financing.
The government announced that over 40 companies signed up to invest in South Sudan while others were to sign up later.
The new country plunged into civil war which shuttered any development that could have come as a result of the conference.
South Sudan depends 98 percent on oil even though the country is home to other minerals like iron ore, copper, chromium ore, zinc, tungsten, mica, silver, gold, and hydropower.
Also, despite at least 90 percent of South Sudan’s land is suitable for farming, the country imports most of its food from other countries.
The Forum is expected to attract investors to support large-scale commercial farming and processing of cotton, sugarcane, wheat, and fruit.
Dr. Dhieu Mathok said the government intends on reclaiming the economy through private-public sector investment.
“The other ministries including the mining, petroleum, agriculture, livestock and fisheries and tourism; all these economic cluster ministries are going to take part, and even some of the service and infrastructure clusters, we want to identify the priorities of those ministries.”
