ANTANANARIVO, June, 25 June 2024 – The inaugural COMESA Week aimed at raising public awareness on various regional integration programmes being implemented by the 21-member bloc kicked off Monday in Madagascar. This also marks the launch of activities to commemorate the organisation’s 30th anniversary later this year.
COMESA Secretariat in collaboration with the Government of Madagascar backed by support from the European Union 11th Development Fund worked with selected COMESA institutions to organise the event.
The COMESA Week features a mini expo that has attracted small-scale entrepreneurs, a media sensitisation forum on regional integration was held, while a multi-stakeholders’ dialogue focusing on women and the youth and an engagement with students at the University of Antananarivo are planned for the week.
The climax of the activities will be the 5th COMESA Federation of Women in Business [COMFWB] Trade Fair and Business Conference on June 28 and 29, 2024 which will bring together national chapters of the COMFWB from COMESA Member States and women entrepreneurs from Madagascar and across the region. Various international and local corporates have come together to support these events.
Madagascar’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Her Excellency Rasata Rafaravavitafika officially launched the COMESA week activities. While addressing the gathering in Antananarivo, the Minister reiterated her government’s commitment to the ideals of regional integration as espoused by COMESA.
“Indeed, it is with great pride, for my country and for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that we are inaugurating this important and useful event, which is once again a concrete expression of regional cooperation and integration within COMESA,” she said.
She added, “Madagascar remains a committed member of COMESA and we are working to ensure that the country takes full advantage of regional integration by actively participating in the different programmes and activities that will bring about enhanced trade and development to our people.”
Minister Rafaravavitafika, whose ministry coordinates COMESA programmes in the country, urged the local participants and public in general to take advantage of the presence of the experts from COMESA Secretariat and the two institutions – the COMESA Court of Justice and the COMESA Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB) to get the needed information and updates on the various programmes.
In 2016, Madagascar hosted the 19th Summit of COMESA Heads of State and Government in Antananarivo, and held the chairmanship for 5 years from 2016 to 2021.
For Madagascar, COMESA represents 50 to 100 million dollars in exports per year, and almost 2.6 million euros in direct funding received under the Regional Integration Support Mechanism [RISM] and technical cooperation facility, a large part of which has benefited the private sector through, among other things, equipping production units and supporting access to the African market.
Madagascar also benefits from a number of sectoral programmes covering, among other things, trade facilitation, the pharmaceutical sector, air transport, the environment, competitiveness, market access, energy, agriculture and statistics.
Speaking on behalf of COMESA Secretariat, Assistant Secretary General for Administration and Finance Dr Dev Haman commended the country for hosting the first ever-COMESA Week and was quick to add that as the bloc celebrates 30 years of existence, it must assess its collective achievements, identify what has worked well, and recognise areas needing adjustment.
From the outset, COMESA has done well and has been a trendsetter in regional integration on the continent. Intra-COMESA exports have increased from US$ 2.3 billion in 2000 to US$ 14.1bln in 2022.
“It is gratifying to observe that many of our programmes, institutions, and projects have been emulated across Africa. We are the largest Free Trade Area in Africa, with 16 participating states, and a cornerstone of the African Continental Free Trade area,” Haman said.
He added that the COMESA trade facilitation instruments set the benchmark on the continent while the robust and viable COMESA institutions are the envy of many, as evidenced by the fact that several of them now offer their services to the rest of the African continent and beyond.
Haman assured the government of continued support from the Secretariat as the country and region strive to attain deep intra-regional trade, economic development, and prosperity of all peoples.
COMESA Member States are: Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
https://thecooperator.news/madagascar-adfs-agriculture-rehabilitation-project-boosts-farmers-income/
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