Egypt to strengthen ties with EAC
Egypt has committed to improve areas of cooperation between herself and the East African Community.
Egypt’s new Ambassador to the Tanzania and the EAC, H.E. Mohammed Yasser Ala’Eldeen El Shawaf, said his country was eager to boost trade and technical cooperation with the EAC Partner States.
Amb. Shawaf made the remarks after he presented his credentials to the EAC Secretary General, Amb. Dr Richard Sezibera, at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha today.
Welcoming the Egyptian Ambassador, Dr Sezibera described Egypt as an important trading partner for the EAC and praised its outstanding role in promoting negotiations for the Tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) between the EAC, COMESA and SADC.
Dr Sezibera noted that the Tripartite FTA when fully implemented would move the African Continent from the margins of Global Trade, adding that it was a good basis for the Continental Free Trade Area envisioned by the African Union.
The Secretary General thanked Egypt for making a tariff offer to the EAC and went on to request Egypt to encourage the other member states to negotiate as a bloc instead of doing so as separate entities saying this would hasten the operationalization of the Tripartite FTA.