Final Communiqué of the COMESA‐EAC‐SADC Tripartite Summit of Heads of State and Government.

In the area of trade, customs and economic integration, the Tripartite Summit:

i) approved the expeditious establishment of a Free Trade Area (FTA) encompassing the member/partner States of the 3 RECs with the ultimate goal of establishing a single Customs Union;

ii) directed the three RECs to undertake a study incorporating, among other things, the following elements:

a) development of the roadmap, within 6 months, for the establishment of the FTA which would take into

account the principle of variable geometry;

b) the legal and institutional framework to underpin the FTA;

c) measures to facilitate the movement of business persons across the RECs;

iii) directed that the study report from (ii) above be presented to a specially convened Tripartite Council of Ministers for consideration within 12 months to among other things determine the time frame for the establishment of a single FTA encompassing the three RECs;

iv) directed the Chairpersons of the Councils of Ministers of the three RECs to ensure that the three RECs speed up the development of joint programmes that enhance co‐operation and deepening of co‐ordination in industrial and competition policies, financial and payments systems, development of capital markets and Commodity Exchanges; and

v) directed the Chairpersons of the Councils of Ministers of the three RECs to ensure that the Secretariats participate, coordinate and harmonise positions on the EPA negotiations and other multilateral negotiations including the WTO Doha Development Round Negotiations.

The Tripartite Summit also noted with great concern the current global financial crisis undermining the economic stability of the world and posing a serious threat to the growth of African economies particularly in terms of demand for African exports of goods and services including tourism, foreign direct investment, remittances of the African diaspora, employment, development cooperation, achievement of the Millenium Development Goals and the willingness of the donor community to meet aid commitments.

The Tripartite Summit called for collective action to help African and other developing and least developed countries to address the adverse impact of the financial crisis and the global economic meltdown and urged international financial institutions to adopt effective remedial measures to mitigate the risks. The Tripartite Summit further noted the continued world food crisis and agreed to make strategic interventions to exploit the potential of African economies in the production of food and enhance accessibility to markets.

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