On this Thursday 15th June, at the Gaviota restaurant in Sipopo, the official launching ceremony of the digital tool that henceforth permits tourists, businessmen and investors to access the country in an easy way to discover all that this small Central African territory has to show to the world, took place.
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The authorities have defined this important event as a milestone that opens the doors of the country to the world to make it a tourist and economic centre of the region, expanding the scenario of the economic diversification of Equatorial Guinea and the enhancement of tourism.
Manuela Roka Botey, Prime Minister of the Government in charge of Administrative Coordination, has indicated that the official launch of the e-Visa is the result of the work of all, the will and persistence of the Vice President of the Republic to materialise this project.
The head of Administrative Coordination pointed out the facilities offered by the new visa granting tool, as well as the characteristics of the previous system, assuring that “it is necessary to clarify that the online launch does not, for the moment, cancel the traditional visa. In all embassies, the two modalities will coexist in a transitional, flexible period of no more than three months”.
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For his part, the Minister of Finance and Budgets acknowledged that the country was focused on a single sector, but that investors now have no excuse to explore ways of investing in the country. “If we manage to develop tourism alongside other sectors, we believe that our economy will be strengthened,” he said, while inviting economic operators and entrepreneurs to create initiatives to ensure that tourists are always busy during their stay in Equatorial Guinea.
There was no shortage of thanks to Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who has been at the forefront of this initiative since its inception. The head of Culture and Tourism, Prudencio Botey Sobole, after giving his speech, made a symbolic presentation to Nguema Obiang Mangue, as a sign of gratitude for the opening up of tourism in the country.
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The Secretary of State for Tourism, Catalina Asumu Martínez, indicated that this event is evidence that tourism is the source of Equatorial Guinea’s economy. “Today we are taking an important step and it is clear that we can move on to the second phase of the tourism sector and the development of Equatorial Guinea”.
