The government of Sao Tome and Principe has approved the documents and the delegation that will take part in the 1st international conference in support of the archipelago, according to an official statement released Tuesday in Sao Tome.

The conference will bring together investors and development support partners, both bilateral and multilateral, and will take place on 14 and 15 October in London.

The statement accessed by Macauhub said both the documents and delegation were approved Tuesday at a cabinet meeting.

The approved documents include the schedule of activities, the conference concept note, the vision and development strategy, structural projects for infrastructure and investment project files.

At a previous conference held in the Sao Tome capital in December 2006, Sao Tome and Principe raised over US$52 million as a result of commitments made by donors and international investors, aimed at fighting poverty in the archipelago.

The World Bank, International Monetary Fund, African Development Bank, European Union, United Nations, France, Taiwan, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Portugal and Japan have been in recent years been the main contributors to Sao Tome and Principe.

The energy, water and infrastructure sectors are the priority areas for investment, followed by education, training and good governance.

Sao Tome and Principe is more than 90 percent dependant on foreign aid, both in the form of loans and donations, to cover expenditure of about US$150 million included in the State Budget.

Despite expectations about oil exploration, both in a joint exploration area with Nigeria and in Sao Tome’s exclusive economic zone, the main base of the economy remains cocoa, providing about US$6 million per year. (macauhub/ST/PT)