COMESA summit concludes with call for integration of Africa

KAMPALA, June 8, 2004 (Xinhua) — Africa’s biggest trading bloc concluded its ninth summit of heads of state and government and the first business summit here Tuesday with a call for integrationof Africa.

The final communique adopted by the summit reaffirmed the role of the Common Market for Easter and Southern Africa (COMESA) as a building block to support the African Union agenda for the integration of Africa, and urged the secretariat to finalize the program on addressing HIV/AIDS being developed in collaboration with other international organizations.

It also urged the member states to expeditiously eliminate the remaining non-tariff barriers in order to further enhance intra-COMESA trade.

In closing the summit, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, newly-elected chairman of COMESA Authority, reiterated his commitment to continuing the implementation of the COMESA programs.

He echoed the sentiments of all the participants on the need for continued peace and security in the region.

The communique noted the need to enhance the food security situation in the region and urged the member states to expedite implementation of COMESA programs that address the food security concerns of the region.

It noted with satisfaction the progress made in enhancing the role of women in leadership positions in COMESA member states.

The communique reiterated the critical importance of peace, security and stability for the realization of the social and economic development objectives of COMESA.

It expressed concern that the problem of refugees and internally displaced persons are continuing to pose a major challenge to sustainable development in the COMESA region.

Thirteen heads of state and government from the region attendedthe summit.

Djibouti will hold next year’s COMESA summit.

Zambia-based COMESA, set up in December 1994 to replace the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa, is an African regional grouping of 19 countries with about 380 million people and a combined gross domestic product in excess of 180 billion US dollars.

Its members are Angola, Burundi, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, the Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.