The eighth African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum has been scheduled to take place from August 4 to 6, 2009 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Speaking at the just concluded East African Community (EAC) preparatory meeting for the forum, the Executive Director of East African Business Council (EABC), Charles Mbogori said East African businesses have traditionally focused on Europe and Asian markets and are still not well informed of US market, its nature, and its business environment.

He said the situation is further worsened by the distance between US and EAC and the high cost of doing business in the region.

"East Africa region has some of the highest energy, and transport costs in the world,”

"This makes it difficult for firms in East Africa to compete with those in Asia and Latin America.”

Mbogori therefore suggested that for East Africa to leverage itself as a region in the US, companies should stop competing against each other but instead start complementing each other especially in the area of specialisation and division of labour.

He urged each country to concentrate on the area that gives them the most comparative advantage and regional competitive advantage.

"Industries that produce at smaller quantities can be merged into regional industries that can meet the demands of big external market.” 

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