The Swedish Government has pledged to continue supporting the East African Community (EAC) integration process. This pledge was made by Katarina Rangnitt, the Swedish Ambassador to Tanzania and the EAC, who said cooperation among the five EAC partner states was crucial to relations between Sweden and East Africa. The envoy was speaking after she presented her credentials to the EAC Secretary General Richard Sezibera at the EAC headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, according to a statement from the regional bloc’s secretariat. Sweden has over the past nine years disbursed financial support amounting to over $850,000 to the bloc, through the EAC Partnership Fund. Sezibera thanked the Swedish envoy for her government support to the community over the years noting that the Swedish support has been used for among other things the negotiations of the Economic Partnership Agreements between the EAC and the EU as well as boosting the health sector in the region. The Secretary General briefed Rangnit on the progress of the EAC integration saying the Community had made many achievements since the signing of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC on 30th November, 1999. He pointed out other achievements as the reduction of Non-Tariff Barriers to the free movement of goods, the convertibility of the Partner States national currencies and cooperation in the development of infrastructure. “Our infrastructure programmes are largely on track. Many of the One Stop Border Posts have been completed, and are being operationalised. I congratulate the Partner States for ratifying the One Stop Border Bill, and the Axle Weight Control Bill. This puts our Community in good stead to strengthen the operations of our Customs Union,” he said. He disclosed that the EAC Heads of State Summit had agreed on a 10-year Infrastructure Development Strategy which among other things lays emphasis on public-private partnership investments in railways, roads, ports and energy in the region. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
