President Banda said the launch of the Customs Union (CU) scheduled was important for the regional because other countries such as those in Europe have used the Union to enhance development in their countries.
The President who stated that he was happy to be part of the launch of the CU stressed that the Union would enable the free movement of goods and people in the region without barriers.
‘It is important that we regional leaders met and launch the CU as it was the only way that the region would enhance trade among countries,’ he added .
President Banda also stated that the summit in general which will also address various issues would help regional leaders to look at areas of promoting trade and regional integration.
Apart from launching the union, the 13th COMESA Summit is expected to look at the regional trade policy that will address issues of policy space, sensitive products, customs management code among others.
The summit is also expected to review the various agreements entered into at the tripartite summit held in Kampala, Uganda, in October last year between COMESA, the east African Community and the Southern African Development Community.
With its 19 member states, a population of over 389 million and annual imports valued at 32 billion dollars and exports of 82 billion dollars, COMESA forms a major market place for both internal and external trading.
Since the launch of its FTA, there has been an increase of intra-COMESA trade of $734 million in 1985 to$ 7,6 billion in 2006.
The regional integration programme for COMESA member states established a free trade area (FTA) in October 2000 and aimed to establish the customs union by December 2008, a monetary union by 2015 and a COMESA community by 2025.
The launch of the CU at the 13th COMESA Summit will mark a significant milestone in the integration agenda of Comesa as it will create a single economic space in which goods will circulate freely.
Council of Ministers have adopted a roadmap which specifies activities and expected outputs which should be achieved within specific time frames. The roadmap also outlines the various roles which should be performed by the Secretariat and the member states.
Structure of the Common External Tariff Principles for a Common Trade Policy which will guide the region’s trade relations with the rest of the world have been successfully implemented.
The launch of the COMESA customs union will see member states that join the union adopting an agreed common external tariff (CET) to be charged to third parties. The agreed CET rates are zero percent on capital goods, zero percent on raw materials, 10 percent on intermediate goods and 25 percent on finished goods.
Today , in the evening, President Banda will attend a state banquet to be held at the same venue .President Banda will after attending the closing ceremony, together with other heads of states proceed to Cape Town, SOUTH Africa to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) .
Every time I see Mr Banda he is near a plane!! continue flying!!
Does this man know that civil servants are on strike from where he is coming from, he seems to be very much interested in reisure. RB learn to sometimes delegate ur work so that you attend to national issues.Thats why u have ur vice.
RB stay in Zimbabwe for good. No use for you in Zambia
Aitemwa ukuseya mudala uyu.Yesterday ,he was in Chilibombwe and today he is Zim.
What time does this man have to reflect on national issues.This farmer from fodya eastern association awe mwe!
thats president BANDA for you my dear
RB YOU ARE BUSY MOVING FROM ONE PLACE TO THE OTHER BUSY GETTING ALLOWANCES FOR DOING NOTHING AND YET THE CIVIL SERVANTS WHO SUFFER GREATLY AND SERVE THIS COUNTRY DILIGENTLY ARE ON STRIKE AND YOU EVEN DONT SEEM TO CARE. TEACHERS ARE ON STRIKE AND THERE HAS BEEN NO WORD FROM YOUR GOVT SIMPLY BECAUSE YOUR TWINS ARE EITHER BEING TAUGHT AT STATE HOUSE BY THEIR MOTHER WHO IS A TEACHER OR YOU TAKE THEM TO EXPENSIVE PRIVATE SCHOOLS ON GOVT EXPENSE. SHAMELESS OLD MAN.
Does your President have a job-description? What are his ministers or Commerce, Finance, Foreign Affairs doing then? Zambia is being run by Vice President George Kunda for sure. You can even notice that Kunda attends and deals with respectable national issues than your RB. We told you not to vote for a Farmer, hunter as president!! Look now what you came up with…
Uyu muntu alelima imbalala ne fipushi mufifwani ku Chipata, imwe ati President!
Zambians you need to wake up. Or is it that people are so used to oppression that they dont recognize it?
No 2, i gree with you entirely. I stand to be corrected here, has The VP been out the country? Owez its RBB! Let him learn to delegate sometimes. RBB wa big time mwandi bloggers.We wasted our vots for real!
Strange than fiction ,wonders never cease in the new republic of ……
Imwe ba lusaka times please be mindful of the basics of news reporting – the 5Ws and H; What, Who, Where, When, Why and How!
Your story does not tell when RB said your allegations and where, do you expect us to guess that the summit is taking place in Zimbabwe if we do not have other sources? We love this website because it gives up fresh information at least ASAP and therefore make it the alternative to the Post Newspaper by ensuring accuracy. All the best.
Globe trotter for president!!!
RB is not concerned about the plight of civil servants. He is scared that a girl friend to another “Kapoko” Civil Servant could spill more beans and spoil the fun. So he is keeping away from Office as much as possible so that time flies by quickly towards 2011.
Besides, he is celebrating having won the 2011 elections in advance. Nga twalaba shani apapene that he is the MMD’s “WINNABLE CANDIDATE” in 2011?
I am a lone voice , yet telling the truth . Custom union ?What shall it entail 5yrs from now ?
Zambia needs Prayers and more prayers for all Zambian eyes to be open and understand what is happening to our country.
This is a very good move as it will enhance trade which Africa has been lacking due to the protectionist policies which hindered growth in our manufacturing industries in the 70’s and 80’s.
African countries and in particular, COMESA countries have got small local markets which cannot support vibrant manufacturing industries unless they are monopolies. Now with a combined market of over 400 million people, COMESA member states can get on the track to create vibrant manufacturing industries in their nations.
What will also happen is FDI will fully flow in. Now we need to concentrate on putting up the necessary infrastructure like Fibre Optic cables and get busy on the North-South Corridor.
Good move Mr. President.
What can we do, what shall we do ,when all we see is corruption. cry the beloved country c…republic
RB looks like he is asking Joyce Mujuru; “What’s the secret with getting away with stealing public money my sister?”
If only the African Union could be as good as EU in such similar policies related to trade: Africa would Don coz we gat more swagger than the rest of the world.
cry the be loved country…..
Go EAST AFRICA GO teach the southerners, they think they are clever, Learn to teach than critisize you boyz. learn to focus than look, plan ahead……….!!!
Zambia needs to serioussly analyse the benefits and costs of our membership to these organizations. We might just be hurting our economy further
What does Zambia produce to gain any benefit. If the Govt is serious about this they need to reduce local taxes on certain inputs that are procured outside the comesa region. Otherwise the only goods to go out will be Boom and Maheu!!