BOX 6.
TRADE DEVELOPMENT AND PROMOTION PROGRAMME (COMESA)
The objective of the Trade Development
and Promotion Programme (COMESA) is to accelerate the
process of market integration in the 22 Eastern and South
African countries through capacity-building of private-
sector institutions (e.g., Chambers of Commerce, trade
associations), establishing a trade information network
and database to ensure the continuous, regular flow of
information on product development, tariff rates, etc.
The programme has been successful for the following
reasons:
- Building on previous UNDP
activities. The project grew out of UNDP/PTA/ITC
efforts in the 1980s in implementing a trade development
and promotion programme (RAF/85/026 and RAF/87/025),
which revealed that implementation of the various
provisions of the PTA protocol is inadequate if the
effort is not integrated into the work programme of the
PTA business organizations so that they can take
advantage of the intra-PTA trade-expansion opportunities
on a permanent and sustainable basis.
- Proper identification of
a capacity gap. The programme identified the
institutional weakness of Chambers of Commerce and trade
associations as an important impediment to effective
trade facilitation in the subregion. Therefore, it
concentrates its effort on strengthening the management
and networking capacities of the Chambers of Commerce
through training and the provision of equipment. A series
of workshops for Chambers of Commerce have been conducted
all over the COMESA region for the purpose of improving
the services to the private sector for the promotion of
trade and investment. These include surveys of supply and
demand, buyers and sellers meetings, and training in the
use of the trade information network (TINET). In
addition, consultancy support has been provided by the
project to advise the business organizations on the most
effective modalities of cooperation among the Chambers
of Commerce of the Member States.
- Establishing a regional
database on trade. The second capacity gap
identified by the project is the lack of pertinent data
on import/export trade, PTA enterprises, and import
tariffs and other trade-control measures applied by the
Member States. The programme has emphasized that regional
integration is difficult to achieve if both governments
and the private sector have no reliable, up-to-date data
on Member States' trade, products, etc. The establishment
of a computerized trade information network (TINET),
linking the COMESA Secretariat with designated national
focal points in the Member States, has been the success
story of the project. The national focal points are
responsible for collecting national trade-related data
and for disseminating the information on Member States
that is distributed by the central unit of TINET to their
respective national organizations and private-sector
operators for their use.
- Proper identification of
stakeholders. Another important strategic
feature of the programme is the built-in emphasis on
using expertise and facilities available in the subregion
through the principle of networking, subcontracting, and
technical cooperation arrangements between institutions
(TINET focal points, Chambers of Commerce) and
enterprises with different levels of operational
efficiency. Buyers and sellers meetings tailored for
specific product type, trade fairs and training workshops
for private operators and members of Chambers of Commerce
have provided enormous opportunities for the private
sector in the subregion to establish links, to network,
to exchange information and discuss common problems.
With only a $3 million budget, the
COMESA project has witnessed substantial achievements
that have been made in practical, pragmatic
trade-facilitation and promotion activities. More
important, the project has put the private sector stage
centre, assisting it in building its capacities to become
a catalyst for change.
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