PDF (2.0 MB)

Taking forwardthe SouthernAfricanDevelopmentCommunity’sFree Trade AreaSouth AfricaAugust 2008The launch of Southern African Development Community (SADC)Free Trade Area (FTA) is at once an expression of your well-knowncommon commitment to the ideals of deeper regional integrationas well as abiding faith in trade as an engine of growth. This framework,with its associated harmonisation of rules and standards andremoval of existing barriers, promises welfare gains, including morejobs, increased investment flows and improved economic prosperity.It should help individual countries to diversify their economiesand thereby collectively improve the productive capacities of SADC.Moreover, the SADC FTA is consistent with the ideals of continentalintegration and consistent with the vision the African Union and itsNEPAD programme.In taking its FTA forward, I know SADC will ensure that its benefitsare broad-based and that they filter down to all Member States andreach the grassroots community, including previously marginalisedsectors of society such as women and poor rural dwellers. You arealso creating an enabling environment for the further growth of theprivate sector, which has a key role to play in making successful useof the regulatory framework provided by the FTA. Equally commendableare ongoing initiatives to harmonise SADC, the Common Marketfor East and Southern Africa (COMESA), and East African Community(EAC) programmes, which will give further impetus to achieving the100 Part Two