President Mugabe
From Mduduzi Mathuthu in VIENNA, Austria
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe yesterday emphasised the “indispensability of regional integration” to achieve “balanced development” between landlocked and transit countries.
The President, speaking in Vienna, Austria, at a United Nations conference on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) outlined a raft of measures that sadc and comesa countries aimed to implement and reduce the cost of trade.
Zimbabwe, he said, is a “landlocked and transit country but it is not unique in this respect”, adding: “This special geographic circumstance, however, heightens our countries’ consciousness of the indispensability of regional integration and cooperation for survival and progress.
“The duality of our position as landlocked and transit countries compels us to take into account national and regional dimensions as we plan and develop our transport infrastructure and other ancillary services related to transit routes.”
The conference, which opened yesterday and closes on Wednesday, the second after the Almaty conference held in Uzbekistan in 2003, seeks to address ongoing challenges faced by landlocked countries in efficiently accessing the sea.
At the end of the forum, leaders and representatives of the 32 Landlocked Developing Countries will make “concrete recommendations on the way forward” and draw up an “outcome document outlining the programme of action for landlocked developing countries for the next 10 years,” said officials.
United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon told the conference that the cost of trade was 47 percent higher for landlocked countries compared to countries with access to the sea, which he blamed for the “uneven growth” among developing countries.
“There has been progress since the programme of action was adopted in Almaty 11 years ago. Landlocked developing countries have exported more merchandise and increased their share of trade, but transportation costs are still high, export income is limited and imports are expensive,” the UN chief said.
President Mugabe, who is the current sadc chairman and AU deputy chairman, said “as the integration processes deepen, it is important to ensure that the specific challenges of landlocked and transit countries receive particular attention in the interest of achieving balanced development throughout the region.”
The President said the sadc Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan adopted in Maputo in 2012 had the potential to “improve the transport, energy and communication connectivity in the region” which he said was critical in addressing the challenges faced by landlocked developing countries.
The Master Plan which covers energy, transport corridors, ICT, meteorology, water and tourism, he said, was a 15-year programme split into five phases, with an initial investment target of US$65 billion.
And during the 34th sadc Heads of State summit hosted by Zimbabwe in August this year, President Mugabe told the summit, regional leaders had adopted a Declaration on Infrastructure Development, “thus underlining their preoccupation with improving connectivity and ease of movement within the region”.
He called for urgent reforms and a “continuous review” of the regulatory policies that regional countries apply to transit transport “to eliminate inefficiencies and non-physical barriers to cross-border transport and connectivity”.
comesa and sadc, he added, are designing and implementing various instruments to promote transport cooperation in the region, including the introduction of axle load limits, carrier licence and transit plates, simplified and harmonised transit charges as well as putting in place surveillance and monitoring mechanisms “to observe and reduce rent-seeking and other unacceptable practices along transit routes.”
A key pillar of the regional integration plan, he said was the introduction of One-Stop Border Posts “to facilitate easier border formalities for small scale traders”.
Among the leaders addressing the conference yesterday were the Bolivian President Evo Morales Ayma and Australian President Heinz Fischer.