(Business in Cameroon) - On March 3, 2014, the Cameroonian Minister of Economy, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, and the Canadian Minister of International Trade, Ed Fast, signed a promotion and protection agreement geared towards Cameroonian and Canadian investors.

The agreement was signed during the annual Franco-Mine Forum which brought together some 500 participants from French-speaking mining countries. The event was held by the Canadian Mining, Metallurgy and Oil Institute (ICM). This agreement is the happy outcome of a letter of intent signed a year earlier by the same government officials.

According to figures provided by the Canadian High Commission in Cameroon, trade between the two countries rose from 18 to 25.5 billion FCfa between 2010 and 2012, which marks a 41.6% increase. Trade between the two nations is more dynamic in agri-foods, pharmaceutics, infrastructure and mining, mechanical equipment, textiles, wood and wood bi-products.