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EAC,COMESA, SADC kick off first tripartite summit

Published: 22/10/2008 05:00

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The East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) kicked off here Wednesday their first tripartite summit.

(L-R) Acting President of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe, Rwanda President Paul Kagame, Uganda President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Kenya President Mwai Kibaki, and President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, attend the official opening of the First COMESA-SADC-EAC Tripartite Summit on Oct. 22, 2008. The East African community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) kicks off its first tripartite summit in Kampala, Uganda, Oct. 22, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

The summit brought delegates from 26 members of the three blocs who will discuss matters related to enhancing cooperation among the EAC, COMESA and the SADC, three of the eight regional economic communities recognized under the African Union (AU) conventions as the building blocks for the African Economic Community (AEC) and continental unity.

In an official opening speech to the summit, Tomaz Salomao, executive secretary of the SADC who also spoke on behalf of COMESA and the EAC, said holding such a tripartite summit has not been easy but with the wisdom and commitment from all the members, the summit has become a reality.

The tripartite summit is the defining moment for the Eastern and Southern Africa which shares the same development targets, Salomao said.

The summit will provide the members of the three blocs with the strategies and directions for their efforts toward the regional integration, he added.

“The tripartite framework agenda has indeed redefined our benchmarks for regional integration in Eastern and Southern Africa, and Africa as a whole,” the SADC official also said.

The moment is also opportune for the three sub-regions to push for enhanced market access, global competitiveness and increased intra-African trade, Salomao said.

There is broad consensus on the pivotal role of infrastructure in the overall regional development agendas it unlocks opportunities for trade, economic development and free movement of people, the official noted.

The challenge for mobilization of fund for infrastructure should be accorded priority as a matter of urgency, he added.

Also topping the agenda of the summit are issues of multiple memberships in the three communities with a view to coordinating and harmonizing their regional integration programs.

The three regional economic communities in eastern and southern Africa comprise 26 countries with a combined population of 527 million people.

The 26 countries make up half of the African Union (AU) in terms of membership and just over 58 percent in term of contribution to GDP and 57 percent of the total population of AU.

The tripartite summit is considered as historic because for the first time, since the birth of the AU, key building blocs of AEC are meeting on how to integrate territories and moving towards deepening and widening integration within the overall Abuja Treaty for the establishment of AEC.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet

Update from: http://english.vietnamnet.vn//international/2008/10/809897/

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EAC,COMESA, SADC kick off first tripartite summit - International - News |  vietnam travel company

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