Mark Eyskens quotes

Mark Eyskens is a Belgian politician, economist, and academic, known for his service as Prime Minister of Belgium. A prominent figure in Belgian and European politics, he has also held several key ministerial positions. He remains influential in academic circles and continues to contribute to public policy debates. Here are 5 of his quotes:

Governments of developing countries sometimes proposed projects that did not directly benefit the population, but did benefit the government; the so-called 'white elephants.'

Mark Eyskens

I think King Baudouin was not dissatisfied with the disappearance of the man who broke off the 80-year-old relations between Belgium and Congo.

Mark Eyskens

Governments of developing countries sometimes proposed projects that did not directly benefit the population, but did benefit the government; the so-called 'white elephants'. For example, they wanted to build highways and build large buildings, while we thought it was better to focus on good education.

Mark Eyskens

China is operating in Congo in a brutal way that smacks of slavery. Congolese work in mines for very low wages. China is not concerned with sustainability and often commits a predatory economy. The country also does not respect human rights. Still, the developing country's government is letting itself be wrapped up, because the Chinese don't make moral demands like the West does. China works with a closed stock exchange in Congo. For example, they build 20 schools in exchange for being able to operate 10 copper mines for 1 year. But that is often peasant deception: the value of the school buildings is sometimes only 10% of the value of the extracted raw materials.

Mark Eyskens