President El-Sisi's Speech on the Occasion of Egypt Assuming the COMESA Chairmanship

“In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful"

His Excellency, President Andry Rajoelina

President of the Republic of Madagascar, and Chairperson of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA),

Your Highnesses, Heads of State and Government of COMESA member states,

Mrs. Chileshe Kapwepwe, COMESA Secretary General,

Heads and Representatives of regional and international organizations,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Regional and global economies have witnessed many developments since the last COMESA summit convened in July 2018, in Lusaka, Zambia. The Continental Free Trade Area was put into effect in January 2021. The significant progress in continental economic integration was coupled with many challenges that faced the region’s countries and the entire world, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In spite of efforts exerted at the international, continental and regional levels to combat this pandemic, the region still faces its negative repercussions. Recovery is slow, which adds many responsibilities to this summit, requiring concerted efforts to counter these challenges. This is what the summit’s theme embodies; “Building Resilience Through Strategic Digital Economic Integration”.

In addition to the pandemic’s direct impact on the health and lives of citizens, it has affected various economic sectors and the business climate in different member states. This led to receding regional demand and supply, affected by a global recession in demand and supply. Supply chains of many commodities have also been affected.

As a result of these challenges and in light of the important role that the COMESA undertakes as a regional economic bloc that seeks to achieve sustainable development for the member states, Egypt has developed its vision with the aim of deepening business integration among the region’s countries to accelerate economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Egypt views that encouraging business, from a comprehensive perspective including trade, investment and production, will significantly contribute to expediting the pace of recovery.

Therefore, we share joint responsibility as leaders of the region. We must capitalize on the COMESA to develop urgent policies and action plans to facilitate business and encourage the private sector to integrate and open prospects for business integration in the region. This shall contribute to stimulating local and regional demand and increase production rates and hence positively reflect on operation rates and citizens’ standard of living in the member states.

Therefore, Egypt’s vision for the COMESA chairmanship targets proposing a number of initiatives to contribute to deepening integration in a number of priority economic sectors among the COMESA countries, both in the long and medium terms. Allow me to share with you briefly the main features of Egypt’s vision for the chairmanship of the COMESA.

First: Achieving Regional Economic Integration and Eliminating Customs Obstacles

Egypt firmly believes in the importance of regional and continental integration and constantly seeks to develop intra-trade within this integration. Egypt has been keen since joining the COMESA to apply customs exemptions, agreed upon within the framework of the free trade area according to the principle of reciprocity. Egypt seeks to coordinate with the member states and the Secretariat General to work on eliminating any obstacles that prevent the member states from providing the necessary exemptions. I proposed, in this regard, putting mechanisms to periodically review the trade policies of the member states. This shall contribute to the effective participation of countries in applying customs concessions within the framework of the free trade area of the COMESA region. Egypt will seek to follow-up on this mechanism, in cooperation with the Secretariat General and the member states. Egypt will also place significant attention to enhancing continental integration, within the framework of the African Continental Free Trade Area. This is in addition to benefiting from progress made within the framework of the COMESA regional integration in supporting the three regional blocs; the COMESA, the East Africa Community and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), as well as encouraging signatory countries to the Free Trade Area Agreement for the three blocs to ratify the agreement to be implemented and to enter into force.

Second: Industrial Integration

There is no doubt that our cooperation to increase intra-trade requires increasing productivity and cooperation in the various manufacturing sectors and benefiting from the available resources in the region’s countries and their competiveness in increasing industrial production, particularly in light of the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, which affected regional and international supply chains. Without-doubt, this pandemic will work on restructuring these chains in accordance with the ability of national economies to recover and their advantages and competitiveness. This can be used by the COMESA countries to deepen joint industrial cooperation.
Consequently, Egypt prepared the regional industrial integration initiative, in line with the COMESA Industrialization Strategy 2017-2026 and Africa Development Agenda 2063, with the aim of sharing it with the member states and the Secretariat General to put an implementation plan to achieve industrial integration and increase productivity, under the label "Made in COMESA”. This initiative seeks to examine the available resources in the bloc’s countries and determine their comparative advantage to integrate the targeted industrial sectors in regional and international value chains. I, therefore, call on the leaders of the member states and the Secretariat General to capitalize on this initiative and put an implementation plan in the short and long terms to assist the industrial sector and the business community in the COMESA.

Third: Integration in Infrastructure Sectors

Egypt is keen on strengthening cooperation with member states as well as the General Secretariat and its institutions so as to advance economic integration in the infrastructure sectors, particularly transport, energy, communications and IT. Egypt has achieved a significant leap in this regard in the past period. It is fully prepared to cooperation with COMESA countries to share expertise and enhance joint cooperation in these sectors, taking into consideration the importance of the infrastructure integration among the region’s countries so as to ensure boosting intra-trade and the movement of goods, commodities, and elements of production. Egypt will work diligently with member states and the General Secretariat to encourage land connectivity projects among the continents countries, primarily the Cairo-Cape Town Road project, which passes through most COMESA countries.

Egypt will also seek to complete efforts to finalize a feasibility study for the establishment of the navigational line between Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea as one of the ambitious projects to facilitate movement of trade and people between the community’s countries. Egypt will also work to transfer its expertise in the sectors of electricity and energy to member states and encourage all initiatives aimed at addressing the challenges of energy deficit facing member states.

Fourth: Encouraging the Flow of Investments in the Region

Encouraging and attracting investments into the COMESA region require exerting more efforts by member states and the General Secretariat to leverage the unique characteristics of COMESA countries. We have noted that the lack of data for investment opportunities constitutes an obstacle, hampering the development of investments in the region. Therefore, Egypt will work on supporting and encouraging the General Secretariat to cooperate with member states to prepare a list of clear investment opportunities to present it to the business community and funding institutions so as to work on its implementation, thus contributing to increasing economic growth rates, and generating more jobs for the bloc’s citizens.

Fifth: Integration in the Health Sector

The repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic have underscored the importance of regional integration and joint action to address them and to protect our citizens’ health. This, Egypt believes, must be studied by the common market swiftly and a clear plan must be developed to promote regional integration in this sector. This is in addition to aligning national policies to ensure facilitating the access of medical and pharmaceutical products among member states. We should also work toward increasing the awareness of the bloc’s citizens to benefit from the coronavirus vaccines to prevent its spread in COMESA countries.

Sixth: Spurring the Business Community in the Common Market

The business community is the key actor and the prime beneficiary from COMESA’s common market agreement. Egypt is placing huge interest on removing any impediments facing businesses in the bloc and believes that the integration of businesses is an urgent need to accelerate the pace of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. To achieve this, Egypt will work during its bloc’s chairmanship on encouraging all initiatives that contribute to creating a conducive business environment, particularly initiatives targeting digital transformation and financial inclusion to serve small- and medium-sized companies. This is in addition to all initiatives aimed at encouraging the participation of women and young entrepreneurs in the process of economic integration and intra-investment of the private sector in the various production sectors.

During its COMESA chairmanship, Egypt will also work on boosting the Egyptian business community’s engagement with its counterparts in the bloc to benefit from the advantages offered by the agreement for Egyptian and member state’s companies and to work on increasing intra-trade in line with the principle of mutual benefit, in the interest of all.

Your Excellencies.. Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am confident that COMESA has the capabilities, resources and potential that qualify it to surmount the current challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic and to move forward on the path of economic integration. Egypt is pleased to assume COMESA’s chairmanship at this time and work together with all parties to eliminate all impediments, and capitalize on all opportunities available to expedite the recovery from the challenges posed by the pandemic.

The implementation of our vision to push forward economic integration during the chairmanship of the bloc can only be achieved by joint cooperation among all member states, the Secretariat General, its institutions and development partners. Therefore, I call on you all to work together to stimulate businesses in the COMESA region and overcome all challenges, which will positively reflect on our peoples’ standard of living and prosperity.

Allow me at the end of my speech to thank you, once more, for your confidence in Egypt to chair the COMESA in the coming period. I ask God Almighty to grant us success in this mission for the benefit of our peoples and countries.

Thank you for listening

Peace be upon you