SANF 05 no 05
A regional business forum has been established to address common issues of interest to the private sector in southern Africa.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Business Forum is a formal grouping of regional business organisations, which will act as an apex dialogue partner of SADC through the Secretariat and its structures.
The business forum was initiated by the private sector late last year, during the first roundtable meeting between 11 regional private sector organizations and the SADC Secretariat, which had representation from its four Directorates.
This followed a year of extensive preparations to identify the regional priority issues of the private sector, and agree on membership criteria, contact point and operational procedures.
Areas of interest identified by the private sector organizations include contributing to and monitoring the implementation of SADC’s Regional Indicative Strategic Development Programme (RISDP).
The first President of SADC Business Forum (SBF) is the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) represented by Ajay Vashee, the current President of SACAU. The contact point of the SBF is SACAU Secretariat in Pretoria.
The Vice Presidency goes to the Mining Industry Association of Southern Africa (MIASA).
- The other six organizations who are founding members of the SBF are:
- Small Enterprise Promotion Advisory Council (SEPAC)
- Association of SADC Chambers of Commerce & Industry (ASCCI)
- SADC Employers Group (SEG)
- Southern African Enterprise Network (SAEN)
- SADC Bankers Association (SBA), and
- Southern African Railways Associations (SARA).
The Regional Business Climate Survey undertaken last year by the Association of SADC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCCI) indicated that the current business performance is improving in SADC, with the manufacturing sector doing very well.
Textile, apparel, leather, chemical, metals, machinery, vehicles, food, beverages and tobacco dominate the manufacturing sector in the region.
The sector is instrumental in producing high value addition, growth and employment creation.
The manufacturing companies, however, point out the obstacles to regional trade and investment as fluctuations of exchange rates, crime, lack of market information, customs procedures, and economic and regulatory policy uncertainty.
SADC Member States are committed to co-operate in enhancing macro-economic stability in the region through a Memorandum of Understanding on Macro-economic convergence, promoting peace and security and removing all barriers to trade and investment.
The SADC Protocol on Trade has reached its four years of implementation since ratification in 2000. Its major objective is to “achieve a Free Trade Area by 2008, when substantially all trade will be duty free.”
In addition to trade facilitation, SADC has been working on Customs cooperation, leading to the eventual implementation of a SADC Customs Union by 2010, as envisaged in the RISDP.
The SADC Sub-committee on Customs Cooperation adopted a Customs Union Road Map last year, to prepare customs administrations for 2010.
This includes a Conformity Assessment Mechanism, consisting of strategic components that form a checklist against which implementation of the Protocol can be assessed.
In order to put in place the various customs instruments as well as harmonise regional training of customs officials and stakeholders, the sub-committee had developed and adopted training modules.
These training modules include: SADC Protocol on Trade; SADC Rules of Origin; ACP-EU Rules of Origin; Post Clearance Audit; WTO Customs Valuation Agreement; Customs Cooperation; Trade Facilitation; Client Care; Train-the-trainer; Risk management; Transit; and Warehousing. (SARDC)
