By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
COMESA member states should start strategising on how to maintain the balance between the need to keep markets open while safeguarding the legitimate public health interests. Covid-19 pandemic is likely to further weaken the performance of the Member States’ external markets and will also have negative impacts on imports into the region affecting availability of supplies which will lead to further increase in prices. This is according to the Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister, Chipoka Mulenga.
Mr Mulenga told delegates attending the 42nd COMESA Intergovernmental Committee virtual meeting that supply chains were still constrained and prices for inputs and consumables are rising in member states.
“Our countries have now started to experience the negative impact of Covid-19 induced disruptions of supply chains and weakening demand levels in our trading partners as our trade volumes are showing marked declines,” he said.
COMESA Secretary General, Chileshe Kapwepwe, noted that the path to full integration of the region was still marked by obstacles in the movement of people and services. Ms Kapwepwe said it was for this reason that the Secretariat had continued to build capacity of Member States on services negotiations and trade in services statistics. At the same meeting, the Guidelines for the Movement of Goods and Services across the COMESA Region were adopted by the 8th COMESA extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers in May 2020, to minimise disruption to cross-border trade in goods and services
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