Heads of state from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern
Africa (COMESA) countries kicked off their 11th annual summit
Wednesday in the coastal town of Djibouti, the capital of the
Republic of Djibouti in eastern Africa.
Djibouti President and incoming COMESA Chairman Ismael Omar
Guelleh urged COMESA member countries to adhere to unity and
cooperation in the integration process.
"During the year of our chairmanship, Djibouti's focus shall be
to further maximize elements of cooperation, institutional
refinement and increased membership involvement essential to our
growth and prosperity as an organization," Guelleh said at the
opening of the summit.
"This should entail greater openness in our trade and in the
movement of people, the forging of stronger ties between our
private sectors, and expanded cooperation with our international
development partners," he said.
The heads of state summit is being held in the recently built
Kempinski hotel in Djibouti, the first five-star hotel in the
nation. At the two-day summit, the leaders are expected to review
COMESA programs and map the way forward for regional
integration.
Guelleh said that COMESA nations have realized the bulk of the
initial goal, namely, the attainment by Oct. 31 2000, of a Free
Trade Area and the appreciable efforts that have been made toward
the establishment of a Customs Union.
"COMESA is at a historic point with the opportunity to become
the foremost African entity. Therefore, through streamlining
policies, procedures and priorities of its institutions, COMESA
could operate smoothly and efficiently, with little overlap of
interests or duplication of efforts," Gulleh said.
"Ultimately, our aims and objectives converge in a common desire
for economic growth, self-sufficiency and sustainable development.
In that long journey, COMESA is the critical first step," he
concluded. "We must strive hard to make it a viable entity within a
reasonable timeframe, through unity of purpose, and through an
enhanced movement of people, goods and capital."
Outgoing COMESA Chairman, President of Rwanda Paul Kagame told
his colleagues at the meeting to draw lessons from the
accomplishments and address hard questions that face COMESA in the
future.
"We in COMESA are committed to improving lives of our people
through regional integration. The pace of our implementation raises
critical questions that require time-bound answers, commitment and
firm actions," Kagame said.
At the opening of the summit with the theme "deepening regional
integration through custom unions," COMESA Secretary General
Erasturs Mwencha said he is optimistic about the future of
COMESA.
"Challenges are many ... but I hope that together, we can go
further step with integration," Mwencha said.
The establishment of the customs union is an important stage of
COMESA's integration process before it eventually becomes an
economic community. The customs union had been planned to take off
in December 2004 when COMESA marked its 10th anniversary.
The plan, however, has been delayed due to concern by member
countries over decreased revenue, as many COMESA economies are
small and heavily dependent on import duties. The last summit in
Kigali, Rwanda, decided that the customs union will be set up by
December 2008.
At this year's summit, the leaders are also expected to launch a
fund to compensate the loss in integration process and boost
regional development.
Some COMESA member states have continuously expressed concerns
over revenue losses and other problems in the integration process
and COMESA officials said the to be launched fund will address
their concerns and further boost integration.
COMESA is the largest African economic bloc, grouping Angola,
Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt,
Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius,
Rwanda, Seychelles, Swaziland, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and
Zimbabwe.
It has a total population of about 374 million and a total GDP
of US$203 billion.
In the year 2000, COMESA launched the first ever African Free
Trade Area. It is scheduled to launch a Customs Union in 2008 and a
full Monetary Union involving the use of a common currency issued
by a common Central Bank in 2025.
(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2006)
