·
EAC
Council of Minister receives resolutions from the High-Level Business and
Investment Summit
Arusha, Tanzania 29th November 2019: The
two-day High-Level Business and Investment summit came to a close today in
Arusha, Tanzania. There were healthy discussions during the plenary and
breakout sessions which revolved around the following topics;
·
Enhancing trade and investment
within the East Africa Community (EAC) in order to make it a leading investment
destination in Africa.
¾ Enhancing
trade and investment within the East Africa Community (EAC) in order to make it
a leading investment destination in Africa.
¾ Opportunities
of digitization for business in the EAC
¾ Positioning
the private sector to take advantage of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area
(AfCTA)
¾ Harmonization
of the tax regime
¾ Impact
of SMEs towards the growth of EAC economies
¾ Economic
growth and job creation through industrialization, and
¾ Enhancing
Public-Private Collaboration for increased intra- EAC trade.
The
East African Business Council (EABC) Chair Mr. Nick Nesbitt who read the
resolutions of the business summit informed participants that the purpose of
the forum was to set the economic agenda and outlook for East Africa. The
summit also enabled the private sector to meet high-level policy
decision-makers from East Africa and beyond in order to influence policy
reforms and implementation to improve the business environment in the EAC region.
Over
500 delegates composed of captains of industry, ministers, senior government
officials, investors, women in business, the diaspora and development partners,
among others agreed on the resolutions that were signed by the Chair of the EAC
Council of Ministers. The resolutions will be forwarded to the EAC Heads of
State for adoption and implementation.
The
following are highlights of the resolutions that were agreed on during the
summit;
¾ The
EAC region to double the intra EAC trade from the current 12 percent-24 percent
within five years.
¾ The
public sector to fast track the domestication and implementation of regional
and sectoral policies, laws and protocols in order to create an enabling
business environment.
¾ Partner
States to fast track tax harmonization by using a number of measures including
establishing an initiative to address tax-related issues.
¾ Partner
States to fast-track the conclusion of the comprehensive review of the Common
External Tariff (CET)
¾ The
East African region to adopt emerging Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies
such as robotics, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of
Things to reduce costs and expand their services globally.
¾ The
public and private sector to collaborate to design measures that will catalyze
the Digital revolution in East Africa including Tech Bonds, Special Economic
Zones (SEZ), Tech Parks, Tech Hubs and protect its data by putting in place
data sovereignty policies.
¾
The EAC Partner States should
embrace the AfCFTA for the private sector to take advantage of the
opportunities therein.
¾ EAC
Partner States to expedite the finalization of the Standardization,
Accreditation and Conformity Assessment Bill (SACA Bill, 2017).
¾ Public
and private sectors to prioritize capacity building for SMEs in areas such as
financing, digitization; technology acquisition, market access, linkages with
multinationals among others to be able to upgrade their operations for sustainability
and growth.
It was
also agreed that a joint committee comprising of EABC and EAC Council of
Ministers shall be set up to closely monitor the implementation of the High-Level
Business Summit resolutions. It was further said that an action plan shall be
developed to implement the resolutions of the High-Level East African Business
Summit.
The
High-Level East African Business and Investment Summit was jointly organized by
EABC, EAC Secretariat and the national focal points. It was officially opened
by Tanzania Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Professor
Palamagamba Kabudi on behalf of H.E. President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli.
The theme
for the summit was, EAC@20 Private Sector-Driven Regional Integration for
increased Intra-EAC Trade and Achievement.
*Please refer to the attached document for the full business summit
resolutions*
Ends…. /
For more information on this statement, please contact:
EABC Communications
Patrick Moshi
About East
African Business Council (EABC)
The East African Business Council (EABC) is the
regional apex body of Private Sector associations and Corporates from the 6
East African Countries. It was established in 1997 to foster the interests of
the Private Sector in the Integration process of the East African Community.
EABC was granted observer status in organs and activities of the East African
Community (EAC) and therefore, participates in various sectoral meetings,
meetings of the Coordination Committee, the EAC Council of Ministers, and the
Summit of the EAC Heads of State; with a view to ensure that the agenda of the
Private Sector is well articulated and received by the policymakers.
EABC
Membership is open to all national and regional associations as well as
Corporates with interest in the EAC integration process
or operations in the region. At the national
level, EABC activities are coordinated
through the EABC National Focal Points.
These are Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industries Burundi (CFCIB), Kenya
Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA), Rwanda Private Sector Federation (PSF),
Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) and Private Sector Foundation Uganda
(PSFU).
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