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Finance Minister, Alexander Chikwanda the Regional Integration Capacity Building
Project, spearheaded by COMESA and the European Union will enhance Zambia’s
participation in regional economic integration through support to the private sector.
Mr Chikwanda said this at the signing ceremony of the “addendum to the Grant
Agreement of Zambia’s Regional Integration Capacity Building (RICB) funded by the
Regional Integration Support Mechanism and COMESA Adjust Facility (RISM/CAF)
and the MoU between COMES and ZRA for the COMESA Virtual Trade Facilitation
System (CVTFS),on Tuesday 5th May 2015.
He said the implementation of the RICB project will support the implementation of
COMESA regional decisions and serve to support Zambia’s efforts to better integrate
into regional markets under COMESA.
Mr Chikwanda noted that the electronic initiative will integrate existing trade systems
with other technologies to achieve improved transparency and control in the
movement of national and international cargo and provide an effective solution for
cargo tracking management.
And COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya said the COMESA Adjustment
Facility, through the COMESA Fund will continue providing funding to countries that
are ready to progress on their regional commitments such as Zambia which has
been actively participating and benefiting from the COMESA Adjustment Facility since
2012.
Mr Ngwenya said the Adjustment Facility has been operationalized with funding from
the European Union (EU) under the 9th EDF through the Regional Integration
Support Mechanism (RISM) signed in 2007.
He said COMESA Secretariat has come up with e-COMESA Trade Facilitation
Initiative, known as COMESA Virtual Trade Facilitation System (CVTFS) initiated on
the basis of the COMESA Treaty and Protocol on Transit Trade and Trade Facilities
with a view of assisting member States in their endeavour to manage and monitor
the process of movement of cargo in an efficient and effective manner and in real
time to reduce the cost of doing business.
Meanwhile, ZRA Commissioner General, Berlin Msiska says the agreement signifies
the start of implementation of an Electronic Cargo Tracking System (ECTS), which
will be a transformational and real-time method of monitoring the movement of
goods throughout in Zambia.
Mr Msiska said the increasing number of transactions that are processed by
customs demand that the institution adopts innovative and modern means of
trade facilitation and ensuring efficient accountability of government revenue.
He said ZRA had chosen to implement the COMESA Virtual Trade Facilitation System
(CVTFS) for its electronic cargo tracking system, because it will give ZRA an
opportunity to collaborate with other member states or users of the system to
effectively track the movement of cargo in the region in order to facilitate legitimate
trade and providing an effective platform to counter tax evasion.