President
Kabbah Back From Asia
By Yusuf
Alghali
27th October 2003: President Ahmad Tejan
Kabbah returned home yesterday 27th October
2003 following the conclusion of his two-week
official visit to Malaysia and Bangladesh.
The
President was met on arrival at the Lungi International
Airport by Paramount Chief Komkanda 11 of Kaffu
Bullom and staff of the President's office and
at the Hill Station Presidential Lodge by Vice
President Mr. Solomon Berewa, cabinet ministers
and a host of senior government officials.
While in Malaysia, President Kabbah had bilateral
discussions with the outgoing Malaysian Prime
Minister Dato Seri, Dr. Mahathir Mohamed about
ways of bringing the rapidly-developing Asian
country's experiences and appropriate technological
skills to bear on Sierra Leone's post-war developmental
agenda.
The
President particularly sought Malaysia's technical
assistance and cooperation in the area of agricultural
development with a view to actualising his declared
vision of food security by the end of his current
term.
To
this end, the Malaysians are expected to dispatch
shortly a technical delegation to Sierra Leone
as a first step towards greater cooperation
and partnership, especially in the field of
oil palm cultivation and processing.
Following
his meetings with both President Professor Dr.
Iajuddin Ahmed and the Honourable Prime Minister
of the People's Republic of Bangladesh in Dhaka,
President Kabbah indicated at a press conference
that the two countries had reached agreement
on increasing cooperation in a number of areas,
including food production and processing, textile
production, garment manufacturing, pharmaceuticals
as well as diamond processing. In this connection,
the two countries have signed an agreed document
detailing proposals for the strengthening of
mutually beneficial investment ties.
Also,
in a bid to sustain his government's poverty
alleviation strategy, President Kabbah also
held detailed discussions with Professor Moha
med
Yunus, Managing Director of the world famous
Grameen Bank, set up with the primary aim of
assisting small scale businesses with credits
and loans across the world.
The
Grameen Bank poverty alleviation scheme, which
had proved to be extremely successful, provides
loans to a number of previously small-scale
businesses in countries including Bangladesh
and the United States.
Explaining
the secret behind the Grammeen Bank's success,
Prof. Yunus told President Kabbah that for a
poverty alleviation scheme to be so successful,
special lending institutions must be established
to cater for the peculiar needs of businesses,
which would otherwise fail to obtain loans or
credits from ordinary commercial banks. He said
normal commercial banks were not specifically
designed for poverty alleviation projects, and
as such could not understand what the special
needs of small scale entrepreneurs were.
President
Kabbah, who saw for himself examples of the
Grameen Bank success stories, promised to pursue
his government's poverty alleviation and small
business development schemes, keeping in view
Professor Yunus' experiences with the Grameen
Bank Project.
On
arrival in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates,
en route to Freetown, via London, President
Kabbah dispatched a letter of sympathy to the
ailing Emir of Dubai.
-End-
