Minister Fast Signs Investment Agreement with Cameroon / Agreement will protect Canadian businesses and provide new opportunities for them to invest and grow

OTTAWA, Canada, March 4, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada

The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, and Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, Cameroon's Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Development, today signed the Canada-Cameroon Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA). The signing took place at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) International Convention, Trade Show and Investors Exchange in Toronto.

A FIPA is a treaty designed to protect Canadian investment abroad and promote foreign investment in Canada through reciprocal, legally binding provisions. By ensuring greater protection against discriminatory and arbitrary practices and by enhancing the predictability of a market's policy framework, a FIPA gives businesses greater confidence in investing.

Canadian companies have already been active in Cameroon. In 2012, Canadian mining assets in Cameroon were valued at $61.3 million. In its recently launched Global Markets Action Plan, Canada identified Cameroon as an emerging market with specific opportunities for Canadian business in sectors such as infrastructure and education, as well as mining, and oil and gas.