Experts in development issues drawn from the various ministries in Cameroon yesterday ended a two-day reflection at the Yaounde Conference Centre on the fate of Cameroon's development for the next five years (2008-2012). Unlike the initial five-year development plan which entailed putting together a package of development projects to be executed within the next five years, the new development plan is a set of orientations for each sector. The Minister of State for Planning, Programming and Regional Development, Augustin Frédéric Kodock made the distinction yesterday to the press. But what is this pack of orientation.

They will revolve on five major objectives: state of the law and democracy, growth and competitiveness, poverty reduction, diplomacy and regional cooperation, cultural and sporting potentials.

According to the Minister of State, Augustin Frédéric Kodock, the national development plan plays three major roles. Politically, it materialises the society project christened, "the Cameroon of greater ambitions" which entails mobilising the national community. On a participatory plan, it is a powerful instrument of community mobilisation. On governance, the national development plan constitutes an instrument of continuity for the state.

In a nutshell, the global objectives of the plan are: reinforcing the state of the law and democracy, promoting growth and economic competitiveness, reducing to half poverty within the next ten years, modernising Cameroon's diplomacy and promoting sub-regional cooperation, and finally, valorising cultural, tourist and sporting potentials.