Co- presided over by the Minister of Youth and Civic Education Mr. Mounouna Foutsou and the Minister of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Mr. Achille BASSILEKIN III, the official inauguration ceremony of the Mea Bois Showroom alongside the handing over of attestations to youths trained in the wood sector within the framework of the Special three-year plan for young people with the French acronym PTS – Jeune witnessed the presence of administrative and religious dignitaries alongside major partners.
Speaking during the inauguration ceremony, Minister Achille BASSILEKIN III stated that this showroom emits the zeal to involve more youths in the wood sector through their incubation which gives them the opportunity to fully participate in the development of Cameroon. He further said that though the wood sector has being considered as secondary, this initiative comes to give hope that many youths will get involved in this sector and the standard of wood production made in Cameroon will step up and many Cameroonians will be motivated to consume wood works made in Cameroon.
While recalling the various programs MINJEC puts at the disposal of Cameroonian youths as well as the firm collaboration between both ministries in promoting youthful initiatives for the development of Cameroon, Minister Mounouna FOUTSOU on his part emphasized on the need for other structures to encourage such initiatives. He implored Mea Bois to be an inspiration to similar projects despite the hurdles encountered in the journey of entrepreneurship. He called on the Director General of Mea Bois to continue in the same light and pledged government’s support to always stand by this structure during challenging times which to him are inevitable. As such, the state will however be readily available to support them during challenging times so that they can contribute to the development of the country in their own way.
The Director General of Mea Bois, Mr. Pierre CHOKOUALIEU appreciated the continuous support of MINJEC, MINPMEESA and other partner structures for their relentless efforts in pushing through with this project. He however expressed the need to get a bigger training site to harbor more students and his desire to gain from the technical expertise of MINPMEESA through a signed convention was also expressed.
It should be noted that this event served as an occasion for Mea Bois to sign 2 conventions with MINJEC and Kuml’ab which will give them the possibility to gain from the technical expertise of both structures.
It is also important to state that the ceremony was also characterized by the handing over of awards to youths trained in the wood sector as well as distinctive awards to role models of Mea Bois.