Central African countries to intensify co-op against global crisis

KINSHASA, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Central African countries are determined to intensify cooperation in diminishing the effects of the global economic crisis, according to the Congolese News Agency (ACP).

Ministers and central bank governors of the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) met over the weekend in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to hammer out a common strategy against the crisis, ACP reported on Sunday.

At the conclusion of the Sept. 25-26 conference, the second regional meeting hosted by Kinshasa this month after the summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), Congolese Minister of Industry vowed a greater role in regional cooperation, especially in the micro-finance sector.

The minister said the CEEAC countries are determined in their resolutions to translate into action the plan to promote regional integration, mobilize internal resources and coordinate regional economies.

The meeting decided to create a CEEAC think tank to enhance the regional cooperation, the minister said, adding participants also discussed transport and energy infrastructure, tariff collections and the reform of the regional financial system.

The CEEAC, established in October 1983, groups Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda and Sao Tome and Principe.