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at the New State House and Parliament Building here today as a regular annual meeting which is convened every year to review progress in region.
Speaking to journalists soon after arrival at Kamuzu International Airport yesterday, President Mugabe expressed hope that a number of Comesa programmes were advanced in the past year.
‘‘Once in a year, we meet at the highest possible level, at the level of presidents, then we review the year that has just passed. Of course, we hope that a number of economic programmes would have been at least, advanced, and some progress would have been made,” he said.
The Head of State and Government who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces left Harare yesterday afternoon.
He was seen off at the Harare International Airport by Vice Presidents Joice Mujuru and John Nkomo, Cabinet ministers, service chiefs and senior Government officials.
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Comesa is a regional economic community made up of 19 states drawn from eastern and southern Africa. With a population of nearly 600 million and a combined Gross Domestic Product of close to US$1 trillion, Comesa is Africa’s largest regional trade bloc.
President Mugabe, who leads the Zimbabwean delegation, is expected to join 18 other heads of state and government and/or their representatives at the two-day homecoming summit that is being held under the theme, ‘‘Harnessing Science and Technology for Development”.
It is not clear yet how the political changes that took place in some member states over the past year will impact on membership and attendance. Sudan, for instance, was split into Sudan and Southern Sudan, while Libya is on fire and the Transitional National Council has not been recognised as the de jure administration in Tripoli.
Zambia’s new President Michael Sata has announced that he will boycott the summit in protest over his deportation from Malawi in 2006. Mr Sata, who is demanding an apology from the Malawi government, was declared persona non grata and a prohibited immigrant to Malawi, a status that has since been revoked.
The leaders are expected to tackle a broad agenda encompassing an overview of the Comesa regional integration programme with special focus on trade and investment, opportunities for innovative means of financing for national development and regional integration.
The state of the Comesa-EAC-Sadc tripartite negotiations for the establishment of a Grand Free Trade Area stretching from Cape Town, South Africa, to Cairo, Egypt, will also come under discussion.
In 2008, Comesa agreed to an expanded free-trade zone encompassing members of two other African trade blocs, the East African Community and the Sadc.
The EAC launched a FTA in 2005, Sadc in 2008 with Comesa following up in 2009 laying the groundwork for a Tripartite FTA.
The First Tripartite Comesa-EAC-Sadc Summit was held in Kampala, Uganda, in October 2008 while the Second Summit was held in Sandton, South Africa, in June this year. The SA edition culminated in the signing of the Tripartite Free Trade Area agreement that set the stage for negotiations for the Grand FTA.
It is envisaged that the Grand FTA will pave the way for the launch of the envisaged African Economic Community.
Addressing the Council of Ministers meeting on Monday, Comesa Secretary General Dr Sindiso Ngwenya expressed hope that the regional bloc would come up with groundbreaking resolutions in Lilongwe.
“Taking into account that Malawi is the birth place of Comesa, we have heightened expectations that this year’s annual policy organs meeting will come up with a Malawi declaration on the reorientation and future perspective of the organisation. It is now 17 years since Comesa was launched here in Lilongwe, Malawi,” he said.
Host President, Bingu waMutharika is expected to take over chairmanship of the bloc from King Mswati III of Swaziland who has led the bloc over the past 12 months.
President Mugabe was met at Kamuzu International Airport by Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube, Ambassador to Malawi Ms Thandiwe
Dumbutshena, Speaker of Malawi’s National Assembly Mr Henry Chimuntu Banda, Minister of Health Dr Jean Kalilani and Agriculture Minister Peter Mwanza.
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