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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.