The
regional airspace Agreement and its enabling regulations aims at
achieving a seamless upper airspace for the region which will lead to
enhanced competition in air travel and efficiency. This is in addition
to reducing costs of regional air travel and providing value for money
in air services.
Zambia Minister of Justice, Hon. Given Lubinda, who opened the meeting said
the high cost of doing business in the COMESA region was largely due to
high transport costs. He said the COMESA Seamless airspace programme
will contribute to bringing down the cost of air transport in the
region.
“I am glad that, apart from considering draft legal instruments that
will strengthen governance, we are beginning to move to instruments that
will help us tap into trade in services,” he said. “The draft legal
instruments aimed at the implementation of the COMESA Seamless Airspace
programme speak to this.”
Accession of Somalia
During the one-day meeting, the Ministers and AGs adopted the
Agreement for Accession of Somalia to the COMESA Treaty in readiness for
the country’s admission to the regional bloc at the next Summit this
year. This follows successful conclusion of negotiations between Somalia
and the COMESA Bureau of the Council of Ministers that took place early
this week in Lusaka.
Other draft legal instruments that the Ministers and AGs approved
were the Human Resources and Administration Internship Policy that will
facilitate the attachment of university students to COMESA for short
terms. They also adopted the revised Rules of Arbitration of the COMESA
Court of justice and the Staff Rules and Regulations for Executive
Management of the COMESA Competition Commission.
Stressing the role of Justice Ministers and Attorneys General in
crafting supportive legislation that create enabling environment for the
full implementation of the digital economy, the Secretary General said:
“The twenty first century will be claimed by countries and regions
that embrace information, communication and technologies and artificial
intelligence.”
He urged them to take the cue from Egypt, Kenya and Uganda, which are the only member States out of 27 that have ratified the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement, to do the same.
“The entry into force of the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement shall give us a smooth transition into the Continental
Free Trade Agreement,” Mr. Ngwenya, who is the Chairperson of the
COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Task Force said. The TFTA was launched in
2015 but is yet to come into force awaiting ratification by member
States.
Meanwhile, the Secretary General has disclosed that the organization
was about to secure funding for construction of a new COMESA
Headquarters which will have a state of the art conference Centre, a
five-star hotel and a shopping complex.
Speaking at the meeting, he said: “The only remaining requirement is to secure a guarantee for the loan of 140 million United States Dollars which is competitively prices at 2.5 percent with a repayment period of twenty-five years.”