By JUDITH NAMUTOWE –
UNITED Nations (UN) under-secretary general, Gyan Chandra Acharya has said there is need for developing countries to set up a legal framework for improved transit transport and trade facilitation aimed at reducing high trade costs.
Regional integration and cooperation is important for the development of Least Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) such as Zambia, through improved connectivity, enhanced competitiveness and trading capacity, market expansion and upgrading of value chains.
Mr Acharya was speaking on the sidelines of the African Union Economic Commission for Africa (AU-ECA) conference which was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The side event was held under the title: “Enhancing Africa’s trade potential: The key role of trade and transport facilitation legal instruments”.
He said full implementation of the legal instruments could generate substantial revenue for governments and simultaneously create conditions to advance national and regional efforts towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and aspirations of the Agenda 2063.
“While the African continent has made very commendable strides in implementing regional and sub-regional agreements, it is equally important to implement the international agreements,” Mr Acharya said.
Some of the key instruments that offer legal and regulatory framework to facilitate transit transport and trade facilitation at international level include, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) trade facilitation agreement, the Revised Kyoto Customs Convention and the International Convention on the Harmonisation of frontier controls of goods.
Africa is home to half of the 32 landlocked developing countries found globally. The LLDCs are hugely constrained by their geographical locations, including remoteness from markets and lack of direct territorial access to the sea ports resulting in their inability to harness their full potential.