The delegation, led by Dr. Nyamajeje Weggoro, director, productive and social sector of the EACS, comprises representatives from the five partner states of the East African Community (EAC) - Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Burundi.
The tour, which began on Wednesday, 1 October, 2008, was requested by the EACS and is aimed at studying and analysing the progressive movement of the integration processes from the free trade area to common market and subsequently to CSME.
Lolita Applewhaite, deputy-secretary general of CariCom, provided a synopsis of the community's thirty-five year history and its progress towards a single market and economy (CSME). She pointed to the benefits and challenges of the integration movement including the pooling and streamlining of national markets into a regional market capable of taking part in the global arena.
The deputy secretary-general anticipated learning of the experiences of the EAC and expressed the hope that the study tour would lead to ongoing dialogue which would benefit both communities.
The EACS team is interested in understanding the role played by the CariCom secretariat in the integration process; examining the regulatory framework governing the CSME and ascertaining the key processes that governed the negotiations for the CSME.
While in Georgetown, the delegation will study the implementation status of the CSME with specific emphasis on the sequential implementation processes and discuss key challenges that have been faced in the various processes and how they have been overcome.
The EAC is a regional intergovernmental organisation head-quartered in Arusha, Tanzania. It was originally founded in 1967, but collapsed in 1977. The Treaty for Establishment of the East African Community was signed on 30 November, 1999 and entered into force on 7 July, 2000 following its ratification by the original partner states - Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The Republics of Rwanda and Burundi acceded to the EAC Treaty on 18 June, 2007 and became full Members of the community with effect from 1 July, 2007.
The EAC aims at widening and deepening co-operation among the partner states in the political, economic and social fields for their mutual benefit. The EAC countries established a customs union in 2005 and are working towards the establishment of a common market by 2010. A monetary union is envisaged by 2012. The ultimate goal is a political federation of the East African states.
