As a result of the National Forum to strengthen policies and opportunities for Forest Investment in Congo (which was attended by 98 participants), a National Action Plan for Promoting Investment was adopted, containing the following lines of action:
- Sustainable Forest Management and securing provision of forest resources;
- Human resource development according to the needs of the industry;
- Development of the National Market;
- Promotion of coherent policies and laws;
- Promotion and development of SMEs and modernization of the artisanal wood sector;
- Promotion of an adequate banking system;
- Promotion of diversification of the use of forest and forest products.
The Forum also provided recommendations for the immediate implementation of the Action Plan, such as:
- Improvement of the macro economy in order to promote investment in the forest sector in light of its cross cutting character (transportation routes, water, electricity, security, etc.)
- Help those stakeholders organized in SMEs in order for capacity building in Management and technical skills;
- Generate financial mechanism such as Guaranty Funds;
- Support the small forest producers through preferable interest rates through BDEAC as a government policy.
The Forum presentations, reports from the working groups and the Action Plan are available at the ITTO website.