Zambia in Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement
Minister of Commerce Trade and Industry Honorable Christopher Yaluma has said that government will continue implementing measures aimed at promoting value addition and improving the competitiveness of the country in order for local industries to take full advantage of the market access being provided through the Tripartite Free Trade Areas ( TFTA).
During a sensitization meeting on the TFTA at Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka, Honorable Yaluma indicated that the sensitization meeting is part of efforts of TFTA to undertake outreach to members and partner states for purpose of awareness creation on the TFTA and ratification.
“I have been reliably informed that so far, national sensitization workshops on TFTA have been undertaken in Malawi, Madagascar, Mauritius and Botswana and now taking place in Zambia. Other countries were similar meetings are scheduled to take place include Rwanda, Namibia and Zimbabwe, “he said.
He added that he is delighted to indicate that in terms of tariff negotiations, Zambia submitted her offer to the tripartite task force.
Mr Yaluma narrated that for the aforementioned countries, Zambia will have bilateral tariff negotiation of which it has written to the concerned countries to request for engagement. And so far, about 3267 tarrif lines, representing 60.6% have now been agreed out of a total of 5387 tarrif lines.
“In terms of challenges, not many are expected, the negative impact on local is expected to be minimal as effectively, Zambia is already enjoying free trade with 19 of the 26 countries, “Yaluma said.
He recognized the European Union for the financial support rendered to the tripartite task force to facilitate hosting of sensitization meetings on the TFTA.
Countries that have so far signed the agreement include: Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC), Djibouti, Egypt, Eswatini, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa as well as Zambia and Zimbabwe.