YAOUNDE, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Cameroonian Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute on Thursday inaugurated the country's first ever shopping mall dubbed Douala Grand Mall in the commercial hub of Douala.

Ngute said the structure represented a milestone in the country's drive towards becoming an emerging nation by 2035.

"Cameroon is gradually getting to the status of an emerging nation and it is thanks to its public policies that it has put in place. But it is also thanks to the vitality of our economy and to the attractiveness of our economy and to the quality of the human resources we have in Cameroon," Ngute told reporters after officially opening the mall.

"This mall is a fruit of Cameroonians who have conceived the project and brought in international partners and they have realized it and it's a beautiful project," he said.

The mall has a supermarket, 140 shops, a multiplex cinema hall, 22 restaurants, banks and several other businesses.