The Congolese President, Félix Tshisekedi, and the Emir of Qatar, Cheick Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, exchanged views during a one-on-one meeting on the agreement for Qatar Airways' right to traffic over Congolese airspace and the modernization of the port of Matadi, in central Kongo.

Account X of the presidency reports that the Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs, Christophe Lutundula, highlighted: "As for the agreement we signed to grant traffic rights to Qatar Airways, we wanted this agreement to be already in application by June 2024 at the latest".

"The second agreement is related to the port of Matadi. And there, there was a series of formalities and actions that had to be completed. Everything has been done. And I think that before the end of the year, work will begin on the modernization of the port of Matadi," the head of Congolese diplomacy said, adds the same source.

Regarding the N'djili international airport, it was mentioned that the Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs had stated: "There are positive signals. And we each reported to our respective Heads of State to receive the latest instructions."

"With my Qatari counterpart for commerce and industry, we agreed to organize a special session of the joint DRC-Qatar commission which should normally be held in Kinshasa so as to put everything on the table to assess and make new proposals to our respective governments," he added, specifies account X of the presidency which indicates: "In addition to the points discussed with Qatar, several subjects had been included in the agenda of the Congolese Head of State during this six-day Euro-Asian tour, notably the memorandum of understanding signed between the EU and Rwanda, for 'sustainable and resilient value chains for critical raw materials', during his meeting with the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo. On this matter, Alexander De Croo had expressed readiness to discuss 'individual sanctions'."

Boni Tsala