Africa-Press – Botswana. President Cyril Ramaphosa has joined four other regional leaders in Botswana to discuss ways to ramp up the movement of goods and services among five Southern African Customs Union (SACU) member states.
The SACU member states include South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, and the Kingdom of Eswatini.
President CyrilRamaphosa arriving in the Republic of Botswana through the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport on a Working Visit to attend the 7th Southern African Customs Union Summit of Heads of State and Government.
Currently, intra-SACU trade is estimated at around R215 billion with South Africa’s exports standing at around R164 billion while importing goods and services worth R50 billion from other member states.
In his opening address of the 7th Southern African Customs Union summit, SACU Chairperson and Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi says to achieve the SACU objectives they need to ensure seamless movement of goods and services among member states.
“Guided by our aspiration for regional industrial development, we need to take lessons from what we could have done differently to inform what we do going forward. This will enable us to efficiently harness our limited resources to implement our post-Covid recovery plan. As members of the customs union, stronger regulatory and administrative collaboration can only aid us in responding in a coordinated manner to facilitate the seamless movement of goods within the common customs area. It is only through mutual partnerships that our people and traders can derive the maximum benefit from what SACU aims to achieve. “
President Masisi:I am pleased that we are able to meet physically, your presence here shows the importance SACU plays in our nation’s.
Masisi:We are meeting in challenging times Geo-politically. The way we used to do things before COVID19 seems to be gone. We are also battling socio-economic ills.
Masisi:The surge in inflation is threat and rising cost of food. The war between Russia and Ukriane is making our economies worse.
Masisi should also evolve in the changing economic times.
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