Regional Private Sector Consultative Meeting on Services Integration in the EAC

EABC supported by its partners, the Africa Capacity building foundation, the Internationa Trade Centre, TradeMark East African and Interntation Lawyers and Economists Against Poveryt, is orgnizing this meeting between 20th – 22nd March 2013 in Dar es Salaam to identify private sector priorities in this debate to ensure that their views considered and adequately addressed by EAC policy makers. BACKGROUND In line with Articles 5 and 76 of the Treaty of the East African Community (EAC), Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda negotiated a Common Market Protocol (CMP) which came into force on 1st July 2010. Under the CMP, EAC Partner States have committed to progressively liberalize trade in services in accordance with the negotiated commitments made under Annex V of the Protocol. To date, Partner States have made liberalization commitments in 7 services sectors, namely: business services; distribution services; educational services; financial services; communication services; tourism and travel related services; and transport services. Additional commitments are to be undertaken in successive rounds of negotiations. Services liberalization presents many opportunities for the economic development in the EAC, since the services sector is the cornerstone of all other economic activities. For instance: Transport, communications, distribution, energy related services, construction, water supply, sanitation and sewerage services provide the basic economic infrastructure; Banking, insurance and financial markets cater for the financial infrastructure of the economy; Advertising, marketing, computer services and professional services deliver business support; and Education, health and social services are the fabric of social infrastructure. As key inputs to all other sectors of the economy with direct contribution to employment and investment, services constitute the most dynamic sector, offering substantial growth potential to Partner States’ economies. In the EAC, services contribute a significant and growing portion of the gross domestic product, averaging around 50%. OBJECTIVE The main objective of the meeting is to help private sector participants understand the issues concerning services under the Common Market Protocol and form a view on whether the regime is sufficient to remove impediments to trade in services. Specifically, a. To sensitize the private sector on the movement of services under the common market protocol; b. To equip participants with information and ideas to help the private sector as a whole make its case for liberalization of Mode 4 in a way that will help ease trade between EAC Partner states and improve the competitiveness of private sector service suppliers; c. To enhance the capacity of the participants to lobby Policy makers to undertake and implement commitments that will be commercially meaningful for the EAC Private Sector; and d. To discuss and build consensus on the issues of concern agree on the way forward PARTICIPATION AND ORGANIZATION The meeting will be a three day event, which will be held in March 2013 in Dar es Salaam Tanzania. The event will bring together 80 participants from private sector firms and associations active in the area of trade in services, EAC Partner State experts and officials,