Private sector chiefs hold forum on EAC integration
Published on 15/04/2012 By JOHN OYUKE East Africa Community (EAC) top private sector executives meet in Nairobi this Monday to review progress on regional integration process. A statement from the East African Business Council (EABC) said objectives of meeting, bringing together over 50 CEOs, includes receiving update of the status and progress of the regional integration process. The CEOs only meeting is planned to provide a forum for the EAC Secretary General and businesses to discuss key challenges facing them in the current integration process and how to resolve them. It will also present a prioritised list of challenges facing the business community and proposals on how to address them, such as identifying quick wins, with clear timelines. The overall expected outcome is an increase in intra-EAC trade and investment, intra-EAC movement of labour and other factors of production, based on the improved business environment. The meeting comes against a backdrop of a World Bank report warning that though the East African Community business environment for entrepreneurs improved in 2010 and 2011, the five economies still lag behind global competitors in implementing institutional reforms to improve investment laws. "The fact that the EAC’s global ranking remained the same as the previous year is an indication that critical obstacles to entrepreneurial activity remain and that other regions have picked up the pace with improvements in their business regulation globally," said the report, Doing Business in the East African Community 2012. Over the past year, all five economies making up the EAC instituted regulatory reforms — that is, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The region’s governments implemented 10 regulatory reforms last year to improve the business environment and encourage entrepreneurship in the region. But Kenya dropped three places from 106 to 109. Uganda dropped four places, from 119 to 123 while Tanzania dropped two places — from 125 to 127. The report said Burundi was among the top ten most improved economies worldwide in 2010-2011, with four regulatory reforms of dealing with construction permits, protecting investors, paying taxes, and resolving insolvency. However, Rwanda, the top performer in the region, made the most progress over the past six years. Worldwide, it made the second-most progress. Rwanda, which jumped five places in the rankings on the ease of doing business — from 50 in the previous year to 45 implemented 22 reforms, making it easier to do business across nine areas of regulation. It has undertaken ambitious land and judicial reforms, introduced new corporate, insolvency, civil procedure, and secured transactions laws. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
