15th Comesa Heads of State and Government Summit, Lilongwe, Malawi-Vice-President leads Seychelles delegation |14 October 2011

The Summit, under the theme “Harnessing Science and Technology for Development”, is being held in Lilongwe, Malawi from October 14 (today) to October 15.

The summit will review, among other agenda items, progress which Comesa has made in 2010/2011 towards the realisation of the Comesa Customs Union, progress in the development of infrastructure and easing the movement of persons across the region.

It will also review the progress made in implementing the decision of the Comesa, Southern African Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC) Tripartite Summit held in Johannesburg on June 12, 2011, towards the realisation of the Tripartite Free Trade Area.

The objective of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (T-FTA) negotiations between the 26 member countries of the three Regional Economic Communities (RECs) is the creation of a larger, integrated market with a combined Gross Domestic Product of about $875 billion and a combined population of approximately 600 million.

Mr Faure is accompanied at the summit by Jeanne Simeon, principal secretary in the Vice- President’s Office and Joseph Nourrice, Seychelles High Commissioner in Pretoria.