East African NEPAD ministerial meeting opens in Kenya

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, October 29, 2003

East African NEPAD ministerial meeting opens in Kenya

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) regional ministerial meeting opened in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Tuesday ahead of Heads of State Summit scheduled for Wednesday.

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The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) regional ministerial meeting opened in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Tuesday ahead of Heads of State Summit scheduled for Wednesday.

The meeting has brought ministers from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania,Rwanda, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Mauritius and the Sudan.

Also participating is South Africa and East African economic organizations including Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)and East African Community (EAC).

The meeting is aimed at building a consensus among the nine participating countries on a number of priority projects to be promoted under the NEPAD initiative.

It also seeks to domesticate NEPAD in the region.

In his opening remarks, Kenyan Vice-President Moody Awori said the meeting presented an opportunity for the African leadership tobreak away from the civil strife, poverty and other factors that impede development.

"It provides a platform to advocate, in unity, for improved market access for exports and to fetch meaningful prices for our people," Awori said.

He told the regional ministers to forge a common approach on workable regional NEPAD projects and implementation framework thatshall be presented to heads of state and government on Wednesday. The vice-president emphasized that the role of the private sector in implementation of regional NEPAD projects which he said deserved special attention in their deliberations.

"We must seize the opportunity and provide leadership in the development process in Africa and play a leading role in safeguarding the well being of our people," he noted.

NEPAD Secretariat Chairman Wiseman Nkuhlu emphasized that no amount of foreign support would make the implementation of the NEPAD successful if Africans themselves were not committed to it.

"NEPAD has presented the continent with the opportunity to end the gloomy picture of a continent in economic and development distress," Nkuhlu, a South African, said.

"It is therefore imperative that parliaments and private and civil stakeholders have a good grasp of the goals and objectives of NEPAD and to participate actively in shaping policies to enablegovernments to achieve country-owned development strategies and targets for a sustainable development," he said.

Kenyan Minister for Planning Anyang Nyongo called on leaders togive development in the region a chance.

"Instead of wasting valuable resources on wars and internal conflicts, we should concentrate on using these resources for foodproduction, education, provision of health care and the creation of national wealth through investment and increased productivity in our various economies," he said.

"One of the biggest nations on earth, the People's Republic of China, is a nation at peace with itself. It is at war with nobody.It trades with everybody and imports from everywhere," Nyongo, whois the chairman of the NEPAD Steering Committee in Kenya, said.

"It (China) boosts of the biggest home market in the whole world, yet it still aggressively seeks for foreign markets for itsexports. It is the fastest growing economy in the whole world," the Kenyan minister added.

He called on regional countries to resolve to have a peaceful eastern African region where development will be the "only item onour agenda until we catch up with the developed world."

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