East African finance ministers to discuss regional cooperation

Sapa-AFP, 9 August 2000

DAR ES SALAAM - The finance ministers of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will meet in Nairobi on Friday to discuss closer economic cooperation, the East African Community (EAC) secretariat has announced.

The ministers "will review progress in the move towards convergence of the fiscal and macro-economic regimes of the EAC partner states (...) with a view to promoting the EAC region as a single market and investment area," the secretariat, based in Tanzania's northern town of Arusha, said in a statement faxed to AFP here late Tuesday.

The statement noted that the ministers would be meeting for the first time since the EAC Treaty came into effect on July 7.

"With the coming into force of the EAC Treaty, the Community is now focusing on the implementation of the treaty," the statement added.

Other issues on the agenda for the meeting include the establishment of an East African customs union, harmonisation of investment rules, development of competition policies and the strengthening and harmonisation of banking regulations.

The ministers will also discuss matters related to money laundering, the harmonisation of capital markets regulations, and the elimination of legal and administrative obstacles to cross-border trade and investment.