People of Kribi, Department of the Ocean and of the Southern Province, thank you for the warm welcome you gave President Idriss Déby and me on the occasion of the launch of the construction of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline, which, I remind you, will make it possible to transport the oil from Komé to Kribi, over a distance of more than 1,000 km. Thank you to my brother and friend, President Déby, for joining forces for this great meeting. I'm asking you to show him both our appreciation of his presence among us and our friendship.

Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, let me also thank the president of Esso Chad, representing the ExxonMobil-Petronas-Chevron consortium, for his kind words, to which we are very sensitive. They express the mutual trust which characterizes our relations, and which results in the consortium's will to invest in our country. I would also like to tell the mayor of the city of Kribi that I recognize the merits of his welcome address, and especially what he said about the action of the government regarding the development of Kribi and of this area. I can assure you that we will continue this course.

Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, the project, whose foundation stone we are laying today, has a double symbolic value to me. First of all, it embodies a link between two brother countries, a link that geography and history have woven over the centuries. In this capacity alone, we should be very pleased about it. In addition, by bringing our two countries even closer together, this project will only promote the process of regional integration in central Africa. Moreover, it is clear that the pipeline that will link Komé to Kribi will be a powerful development tool, first for Chad, which will thus be able to use the source of its oil wealth to meet the needs of its population, but also for Cameroon, which will benefit from the effects brought about by the construction of the pipeline, and subsequently, by the transport of the oil. For both of our countries, this great project will be an important stimulus for our economic and social development policies, and will thus contribute to the prosperity and to the well being of our populations.

Therefore, it is important to understand that my government got actively involved in putting in place the conditions needed to launch the project, a task which, I must emphasize, turned out to be delicate, long and complex. But, as the saying goes, the result was worth the effort. As far as Cameroon is concerned, we had to create a favorable legal environment, which was done thanks to the work of the National Assembly. We had to negotiate with the financial institutions for the financing of the share of Cameroon, which is, I remind you, actively involved as an investor. We had to adopt the necessary measures to make the land available, and to plan the compensation for the expropriations and the loss of development. We had to take essential initiatives to preserve the environment and to protect the resident populations in collaboration with the World Bank and Non Governmental Organizations. We finally had to define the appropriate financial incentives, while guaranteeing the security of the investments.

A significant part of this work was accomplished by a multi-disciplinary and interdepartmental committee, which I'm happy to congratulate here for its ability to protect Cameroon's interests. Today, the conditions are thus fulfilled to make the start of construction possible. It goes without saying that none of this would have been possible without the participation and the support of our partners, who trusted us. I first want to express our strong gratitude to the leaders of the ExxonMobil-Petronas-Chevron consortium, whose collaboration with us, through the National Company of Hydrocarbons, led to the creation of the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company, COTCO, a company established under Cameroonian law which is responsible for the realization of the project and for the transport of the Chadian crude oil. I welcome the presence among us today of the leaders of the consortium and I thank them for the determination they showed to make the project succeed, and I'm sure they will make every effort to implement it in the best of the interests of all the parties involved. I also want to say how much we appreciated the participation of the World Bank and of the European Investment Bank in the financing of Cameroon's share, and I believe it is an additional proof of the trust these two international institutions have in our country, and I'm happy to have this opportunity to reaffirm my gratitude for various kinds of support they keep on giving us. This is the reason why I am very pleased with the presence at this ceremony of Mr. Madavo, the Vice President of the World Bank, to whom I am very happy to express my gratitude.

Excellency, ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to address in particular the populations of Kribi and of the provinces crossed by the pipeline, and through them, all of my fellow countrymen. Three years ago, in this very place, I spoke of the significant potential of Kribi and of this area as a focal point for development. I'm happy to see that my words were heard and that new activities have seen the light of day and that they are under development. Today, I'm asking you to become aware of the opportunities that will present themselves to you, which will give an additional dimension to the development possibilities of your area. To all Cameroonians, I say that this project can be a driving force for prosperity and progress, whether it is the creation of jobs, of small and medium enterprises, the expansion of our industrial base thanks to the foreseeable transfer of technology, the improvement of some of our roads, even new possibilities for the development of our underground resources. These favorable prospects are in line with the economic and social development of our country. It is important that each of you, wherever you are, tries to contribute their initiative, their work and their enthusiasm to the implementation of this Chad-Cameroon pipeline project and to the success of this ambitious undertaking.

To conclude, I would like to thank once again our various partners for their trust, but also thank the Cameroonian people who, by their courage, their willingness to make sacrifices, enabled us to overcome the difficulties linked to the economic crisis, and who supported our policy of national recovery. If we continue in this direction, if we don't let up our efforts, then there is every hope of success. Long live Kribi, the Department of the Ocean and of the Southern Province, long live the friendship between Chad and Cameroon, long live international cooperation, long live Cameroon. Thank you.