PDF (2.0 MB)

Workingtogether toadvanceAU priorities5th Meeting of the Committee onTrade, Regional Cooperationand Integration8-10 October 2007Addis Ababa, EthiopiaWe have gathered here today to reflect on the activities of ECAin the areas of trade, regional cooperation and integration soas to strengthen its contribution to the African Union’s continentalintegration and development agenda. The Committee on Trade andRegional Cooperation and Integration is one of ECA’s sectoral committeeswhich meet on a biennial basis to review developments andissues pertaining to their respective development sectors, formulatepolicies and strategies to address Africa’s development challenges,and advise on sectoral work priorities to be reflected in the work programmeof ECA The outcome of the Committee meetings will thenfeed into the deliberations of the annual meetings of the Commission’sprincipal legislative organ, the Conference of African Ministersof Finance, Planning and Economic Development.At its last meeting in March 2005, the Committee recommended thatECA undertake activities whose outcome would promote, strengthenand support the African Union’s development agenda in the areas oftrade and integration. With the endorsement of the African UnionSummit in Banjul, in July 2006, the Commission repositioned itselfand has placed regional integration as one of its two pillars of work.Since the last meeting of the Committee, ECA has undertaken a numberof activities aimed at contributing to the achievement of most of76 Part Two