The meeting assembled key stakeholders in the shipping industry to reflect on the impact of the various efforts made by the shippers’ councils of Africa to bring efficiency into the trading, transport and logistics activities of countries.
A Minister of State at Ghana’s Presidency Akwasi Opong-Fosu charged the experts to develop a blueprint that will seek to increase intra-African trade by removing the existing obstacles and improving competitiveness of shippers in the sub-region.
He said it is imperative that such a union, which seeks to harmonize the approaches at the micro level towards integration of economic systems and remove the bottlenecks impeding trade, ought to be encouraged to do more.
“It is only at the level of your operations that the challenges of trade facilitation within the sub-region can be brought to the fore and be addressed through appropriate interventionist policies by the respective governments,” he said.
The meeting will discuss, among others, a strategic plan for Africa’s integration with particular reference to maximizing the benefits from its maritime domain. Enditem
Source:Xinhua
