EAST African Business Council (EABC) leaders paid a visit to President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda to engage him on measures to boost intra-regional trade in the EAC region, regional integration and private sector involvement in development activities.

This is a good move by the council, which creates a platform for business titans in the region, to engage government leaders on matters pertaining to our wellbeing.

Tak ing initiatives like that to push for measures that will drive regional integration process is commendable.

The EABC leaders seem to be applying the wisdom from the old proverb of strik ing while the iron is hot as their initiative came at the most opportune time to tak e advantage of a strong political will by the regional leaders to enhance regional integration.

The EAC Partner States with the foresightedness of the Heads of State are fully committed to the success of the regional integration agenda.

The 19th Summit of the EAC Heads of State held in Kampala, Uganda on February this year deliberated on the status of the EAC integration and directed the Council of Ministers to tak e appropriate measures to fully implement the Single Customs Territory.

The Heads of State summit also directed council of ministers to fast-track full implementation of the Common Market Protocol, speed up implementation of the Monetary Union, and make preparations for the drafting of the Constitution of the EAC Political Confederation as a transitional model to the Political Federation.

The matters brought for the attention of President Museveni which include EAC Common External Tariff (EAC CET), Africa open sk ies agreement, one network area on telecommunication, harmonisation of standards in the EAC and strengthening the EAC secretariat on enforcement of laws are all pertinent in driving up regional integration in the region.

Other matters raised are market access with Democratic Republic of the Congo, transport inter-link ages in the region – road, rail and water (Lake Victoria), inter-governmental trade dispute resolution mechanism and closer government involvement and government partnership with the private sector.

We count on the wisdom of our leaders to deliberate on those issues after careful analysis on how they will benefit our economies and the people of East Africa in general.

The Kampala meeting should pave the way for measures to address constraints on intra-regional trade so that the mark ets for the growing manufacturing sector and service industry in the region can be guaranteed.

Source: Business Daily

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.