Enhancing Trade Facilitation and Investment through improved Multimodal Transport infrastructure and Services
The 29th meeting of Council of Ministers and the 43rd Executive Committee meeting of the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority (NCTTCA) were held from 10th to 14th July 2017, at Sarova Whitesands Beach Resort in Mombasa, Kenya; under the theme: “Enhancing Private Sector Participation in Regional Multimodal Transport Development and Trade Facilitation.”
Hon. John LUK JOK, the Minister for Transport, Republic of South Sudan; who took over office as the Chairperson of the NCTTCA Council of Ministers for the next two year (2017-2019) from Hon. José MAKILA SUMANDA, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Ways of Communications, Democratic Republic of Congo, stressed the importance the Northern Corridor Transport route plays in promoting international trade and regional integration.
Hon. LUK JOK urged all Member States to work jointly in developing the indispensable regional Multimodal transport infrastructure and eliminate the remaining Non - Tariff barriers along the Corridor.
“The Transport industry is a powerful tool of economic transformation” Hon. John LUK JOK emphasized. “All the initiatives intended to improve Trade and Transport in the Northern Corridor region will continue to require synergies of different stakeholders in Member States, especially the participation of the Private Sector”, he said.
The full bureau was reconstituted where the Republic of South Sudan assumed the Chairmanship, Vice Chair went to Republic of Kenya; while the Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Uganda took over as the 1st and 2nd Rapporteurs respectively; Burundi and DRC became members.
In attendance of the 29th Council of Ministers meeting were high commissioners, representatives of intergovernmental organisations and development partners among them: H.E. Angelina C. WAPAKHABULO, Ambassador/High Commissioner of Uganda to Kenya; Mr. Steven MLOTE, Deputy Secretary General/Planning and Infrastructure, East African Community (EAC); Mr. Gabriel NEGATU, Regional Director, African Development Bank (AfDB); Mr. Yaya YEDAN, SSATP/World Bank; Mr. George WOLF, Senior Director, TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) and Ms. Nozipho MDAWE, Executive Secretary, PMEASA.
The Policy Organs adopted a number of key resolutions on program activities related to the Northern Corridor Performance monitoring, transport policy harmonization, planning and advocacy, trade facilitation, infrastructure development and management and private sector investment promotion, administrative matters.
The Council of Ministers launched Northern Corridor 5-Year Strategic Plan 2017-2021 on which all Northern Corridor programmes and activities the of the Authority will be underpinned.
The Council also launched the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) as a component of the Transport Observatory and a tool that will see improved data collection in regard to Corridor Performance and Monitoring.