German Ambassador pays courtesy call at the EAC Secretariat
The German Ambassador to the United Republic of Tanzania and the East African Community, H.E. Egon Kochanke, today paid a courtesy call at the EAC Secretariat.
H.E. Kochanke was received at the EAC Headquarters by Hon. Christophe Bazivamo, the EAC Deputy Secretary General (DSG) in charge of Productive and Social Sectors, on behalf of the EAC Secretary General, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko.
H.E. Kochanke congratulated Mr. Bazivamo on his recent appointment as DSG at the Heads of State Summit held in Dar-es-Salaam on 8th September, 2016.
The DSG and the German envoy discussed, among other things, how to strengthen the EAC-German cooperation for purposes of accelerating the integration process.
The German Ambassador expressed his country’s willingness to support the integration agenda by contributing to the Partnership Fund, which he described as a good instrument that enables EAC to directly access funds to facilitate a myriad of activities and programmes within the region.
Commenting on the progress of the dialogue process for Burundi Peace Talks, the German Ambassador hailed the Facilitator of the Inter-Burundi Dialogue, former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Benjamin William Mkapa for being able to mobilize a large number of representatives to attend the dialogues.
Hon. Bazivamo also briefed H.E Kochanke on the status of EAC-EU-EPA; peace and security restoration and mediation dialogues in Burundi; as well as the status and procedure of integrating the Republic of South Sudan into the EAC.
He thanked the German government for its generous support to the EAC over the years, adding that the German government had extended 67 million Euros, which funds were channeled to finance various initiatives within the region for three years from 2015, for instance, the health and pharmaceutical sectors as well as Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (LVFO) projects among others.
Hon. Bazivamo noted that the Community was working to achieve the most important milestones within the Customs Union (Single Customs Territory) and the Common Market protocol, which milestones he added would enable the benefits of integration to trickle down to the people of East Africa. He noted that the trickle down effects would enable the people to appreciate and embrace the integration process. This is the only way they will be fully aware of the integration process.”
Amb. Kochanke was accompanied by Ms. Lena Thiede, Counsellor/Head of EAC Regional Head of Cooperation at the German Embassy in Dar-es-Salaam, and Mr. Bernd Multhaup, GIZ Programme Manager at the EAC Secretariat.