Zimbabwean Ambassador and Permanent Representative to Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Gertrude Takawira has pledged commitment to promoting regional integration in order to grow the economy.
Ms. Takawira said the promotion of regional integration will help the region’s industrialization efforts through increased intra-regional trade.
She stated that the launch of the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt in June 2015 is evident of the work COMESA and its fellow regional economic communities, the Eastern African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) have put into creating economic space for Africa.
This is according to a statement made available to ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday.
Ms. Takawira urged COMESA to continue to assemble the principles of the founding fathers who have worked towards regional integration in Africa.
She said she is optimistic that the people of Africa will continue to develop the COMESA agenda that seeks to harmonize trade policies and regulatory frameworks both at member state level and other regional economic communities.
The COMESA ambassador explained that COMESA will continue to perceive the increased benefits of reducing the cost of doing business amongst Africans.
She said the development of trade and investment policies as the twin pillars of the regional integration agenda that underpin infrastructure development, industrialization, peace and security within the region and beyond will be closely observed.
Why call their core mandate a pledge? Have they run out of ideas? So tired of the same agenda being re-titled over and over the years this thing came into being. It is just a dairy cow for the civil servants enjoying diplomatic status and huge salaries and allowances.
I could not have said it better my self, this comesa blah is really getting old let them just enjoy their salaries and not make noise for us