Istanbul conference on Sudan economy postponed till March 2012 ArticleComments (7). Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
November 1, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese and Turkish governments agreed to reschedule an international conference that was due to take place next month till March 2012 to allow maximum participation by countries. Sudan foreign minister Ali Karti made the announcement during his meeting with the Turkish ambassador to Sudan today. According to foreign ministry spokesperson Al-Obaid Marawih some countries asked for postponement as the original date is hard to honor. The conference is meant to discuss Sudan’s economy after the oil-rich south became an independent country in July. As a result Sudan has lost its largest source of revenue and hard currency as well. The Norwegian ambassador to Khartoum Jens-Petter Kjemprud said last October that Sudan will present to the conference its plan to tackle the economic crisis resulting from the south’s secession which will focus on diversifying its economy and investment sources. Kjemprud further said that Sudan will explain how it will go about about developing agriculture, metallurgy, infrastructure, energy, and increase production in the fields of oil, fisheries and livestock to bring in more hard currency and attract more investment. The Norwegian diplomat however stressed that this is not a donors’ conference adding that more than 60 countries have been invited along with United Nations agencies and international financial bodies. Sudan is lobbying the international community for debt relief to write off close to $40 billion in loans that date back as far as the 80’s. Last September Karti said that world could not simply stand back and watch the country’s economy collapse. Sudan’s finance minister has said the country may need as much as $1.5 billion of foreign aid a year and plans to slash government spending by a quarter due to budget difficulties. The governor of the central bank also called on Arab states to deposit around $4 billion in his institution and other Sudanese commercial banks. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
