Premier Yitzhak Shamir promised Thursday that Israel would lend its expertise to help Cameroon improve its agriculture, especially in its arid northern regions, and to develop its fishing industry.
Shamir spoke in Yaounde, the West African nation’s capital, after a two-hour meeting with President Paul Bya. His remarks were monitored here by French radio.
“Israel has managed to transform its own arid lands into fruitful, arable land and we are ready to share our experience with all friendly nations,” Shamir said at a press conference.
He said Israeli experts are drawing plans for a fisheries project, a training center for public health workers and an institute for agricultural research in Cameroon. Local officials said no financial agreements have been signed.
Shamir arrived in Yaounde after a three-day visit to Togo and will go on to Liberia before returning to Israel. His trip to Cameroon was the second by an Israeli leader in less than a year.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres visited there in August 1986, when he was Premier. At that time, Cameroon decided to re-establish diplomatic relations with Israel, which it broke during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
Togo announced on June 9 that it too would re-establish ties with Israel. Earlier, Liberia, Zaire, and Ivory Coast renewed relations with Israel but 24 other Black African states have yet to do so.
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