THE SADC Council of Ministers has called for a combined regional effort to combat the spread of COVID-19 and turn the pandemic into an opportunity for industrialisation and increased trade.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Council of Ministers’ video conferencing held this Friday, resolved to implement the regional body’s industrialisation Strategy and Road Map 2063 by taking advantage of the increased need for Covid-19 medical supplies to establish vibrant pharmaceutical industries.
Head of the Zimbabwean delegation during the virtual meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Retired Lieutenant General, Dr Sibusiso Moyo says while COVID-19 was top on the agenda of the virtual meeting, a clarion call was made to turn the pandemic into an opportunity for boosting regional industrialisation and inter-trade.
“A number of resolutions were made to deal with COVID 19, it resolved that members state should first test people they are deporting from their countries and all returnees should be test in the respective countries they are coming for before crossing borders. The industrialisation was also topical as SADC members states agreed to pursue the vision of the founding fathers to develop SADC with one common cause, the issue of regional currency also came under the spotlight,” he said
In his remarks, SADC Council of Ministers Chairperson, Tanzania’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Professor Palamagamba John Kabudi underscored that severity of the COVID-19 pandemic should reinforce increased cooperation and solidarity to reap benefits of regional integration.
