Belgium is to grant Burundi 5.3 millions euros to help promote education and agriculture in its former colony, the Ministry of External Relations said in a statement issued in Bujumbura Friday. Two agreements were signed Thursday evening in Bujumbura to that effect between the Minister of External Relations of Burundi, Mrs Antoinette Batumubwira, and the Ambassador of Belgium in Burundi, Jozef Smets. The first agreement, worth 950,000 euros, is devoted to building capacity for planning, coordination and monitoring over a period of three years, the statement said. The second agreement provides financial support of 4.4 million euros for the Institute of Agricultural Sciences of Burundi (ISABU). This assistance is in addition to a grant of 8.6 million euros that Belgium had already released this year to support reforms in institutional sectors of public health and the Burundi legal system.
