Luanda - The degree of implementation of the industrialization roadmap, such as competitiveness and innovation for regional integration, is one of the main issues that will dominate the 34th Meeting of the Committee of Trade Ministers of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to be held in Luanda.
The degree of implementation of the industrialization roadmap, such as competitiveness and innovation for regional integration, is one of the main issues that will dominate the 34th Meeting of the Committee of Trade Ministers of the Southern African
To this end, officials began online meetings this Tuesday with the technical group to prepare for the event and the 24th Meeting of the Ministerial Working Group on Regional Economic Integration.
According to the national director for economic integration, Anatólio Domingos, participants will analyze processes related to Angola's effective entry into the SADC Free Trade Area.
The official said that the issue of the Democratic Republic of Congo would also be debated, in relation to the SADC trade protocol.
He recalled that the Free Trade Area of the Southern Region has already been operational for some years and countries like Angola intend to join, but the governing documents point to the challenges of integration and development of the value chain, with a view to massifying trade between countries, as well as contributing to poverty reduction.
Tuesday's working session analyzed the roadmap for industrialization 2015-2063 and assessed the development of value chains in agriculture, in addition to learning about the development of actions taken by the secretariat.
The member states were instructed to comply with the deadlines for guidance on value chains, so that the secretariat can monitor and implement the SADC industrialization roadmap.
Angola's chief negotiator for the Free Trade Area, Videira Pedro, announced that a meeting would be held in September to analyze Angola's tariff proposal.
He emphasized that this meeting would be decisive if the countries accepted the tariff proposal, which would automatically be sent to the ministers to validate and give Angola the green light to join the regional trade zone.
The official said the country will have to organize itself internally to tell the secretariat that it wants to join the zone, with the countries that are already part of it to incorporate Angola's tariff into their customs tariffs.
He reiterated that the tariff proposal has been sent and reviewed by the SADC secretariat, which in turn had already circulated it to member states, and that the explanatory note for the tariff offer proposal is to be sent by July 10.
In addition to Angola, two other countries have yet to join the zone, namely the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Comoros Islands.
The zone has 16 countries that will participate through an online platform in the working meetings with the technical group to prepare the 34th Meeting of the Committee of Trade Ministers of the Southern African Development Community.
ML/QCB/MRA/AMP
