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.