France will host Sudan donnor conference: Macron

September 30, 2019 (PARIS) – France will host an international conference to support Sudan, once the United States remove the poor east African country from the state sponsors of terrorism list, said the French President Emmanuel Macron.

Macron made his remarks after a meeting with the Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok to discuss ways to support the efforts of the Sudanese government to achieve peace, economic reforms and preparations for a democratic transition.

The French president who is the first western leader to receive the Sudanese premier said the success of the Sudanese revolution is crucial for its people but also the whole region.

“I am thinking in particular of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia and you, (both) you must be accompanied as it should be,” Macron said.

“This is why I decided that France will host an international conference mobilizing public and private international donors to support your country and the region. Together we will build the agenda and ambitions,” he said.

Asked about the schedule of this international meeting, Macron said no date has been yet determined but it would be fixed after Sudan’s removal from the terror list.

A meeting held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on 21 September, the joint African Union-United Nations task force highlighted the necessity of the early convening of a donors’ conference to mobilize resources for Sudan socio-economic recovery.

The meeting further underscored the need for the total lifting of the economic sanctions and removal of Sudan from the list of States sponsors of terrorism to facilitate the mobilization of the much-needed international economic assistance to the country.

In a related development, Macron pledged that his country will work for Sudan’s debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative.
“As the first creditor of Sudan in the Paris Club, France will mobilize to accelerate the cancellation of its external debt under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative”.

He added that French technical assistance teams have already begun to prepare the reforms necessary for the reconstruction of the Sudanese economy and will work with the Sudanese authorities to implement it.

“As soon as US decisions are made, we can restructure the debt together”.

(ST)