Secretary-General of Common Market for Eastern and Southern
Africa (COMESA), Erastus Mwencha, said yesterday that cooperation
between COMESA and China has great potential.
"The cooperation between COMESA and China is not new ... but
nearly consolidated, a historical one with great potential in the
future," Mwencha said at a news conference after the bloc's 11th
summit concluded in Djibouti on Thursday.
Mwencha said there had already been some cooperation programs
between COMESA and China.
"I'd be very sincere to just assure you that we in COMESA
already initiated a number of measures to develop cooperation
between COMESA and China," he told journalists.
Mwencha said that he visited China last year as the head of a
COMESA delegation. In China, the COMESA delegation discussed and
agreed on many things with the Chinese side.
"Some of them (cooperation issues) are already taking place.
China is already a member of our PTA Bank (the Eastern and Southern
African Trade and Development Bank) and we are grateful for that.
Some of our institutions, like the African Trade Insurance Agency,
have signed cooperation agreements with China," Mwencha noted.
Mwencha said COMESA had already been implementing a number of
projects with China especially in the areas of information
technology.
COMESA is now doing projects with Chinese information technology
in some member states including the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Uganda, Kenya and Zambia.
The secretary-general listed infrastructure, road, IT and
railway as priority in the future cooperation between COMESA and
China.
"There is an universal call to continue work with China and we
see this as a new opportunity because China is one country that has
been with us for a long time," Mwencha said.
"China has been with us since de-colonization, supporting
countries such as Zambia to develop a road of railway between
Zambia and Dar es Salam. China assisted many of our countries in
assorted infrastructures, building studies and conference
facilities, investing in textiles and so forth," he added.
At the summit COMESA leaders promised to further integrate by
expanding the Free Trade Area and preparing well for the Customs
Union.
Comprising 20 African states with a population of about 385
million, COMESA launched in 2000 the first African Free Trade Area,
which currently is made of 11 members. The biggest economic bloc in
Africa is scheduled to launch a Customs Union in 2008.
(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2006)
