””JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The Southern African Customs Union (SACU)
would hopefully complete the negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with
United States on the year 2004, a senior US trade official said on Monday.
””””Robert Zoellick, US trade representative, made the comment before meeting
the trade ministers of the five SACU members -- South Africa, Namibia, Botswana,
Swaziland and Lesotho, the South African Press Association reported.
””””Negotiations are expected to start sometime next month.
””””Zoellick said the FTA could help the integration of the region and would
fit in with the framework of the New Partnership for Africa's Development
(NEPAD).
””””Trade between the United States and SACU stands at about 7.9 billion US
dollars.
””””Zoellick pointed out that a similar FTA concluded by the UnitedStates with
Canada and Mexico had resulted in the doubling and even tripling of trade
figures.
””””The longer-term advantages of the agreement included that SACU would be
linked to the United States as the largest market in the world, he said.
””””This was particularly important in the light of the fact that America's
Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) would expire in2008.
””””The act, signed into law by then president Bill Clinton in 2000,offers
improved access to the US markets for nearly 2000 products for African countries
that abide by certain conditions of market reform and good governance. The
benefits include quota-and-tariff-free access.
””””The FTA could also help to draw other investors to the SACU region,
Zoellick said.
””””He believed the agreement could help boost reform for long-termeconomic
growth.
””””"We hope the FTA can help create a deeper economic partnership and address
some of the fundamentals any democratic government maywant to address."
””””These included dealing with poverty. "We might be able to create a model
about trade and development linked to hope."
””””Zoellick said the United States would listen to SACU members' concerns.
There was no reason why safeguards could not be built into the agreement to
protect certain interests about which concerns existed.
””””He knew there was sensitivity about the size of the US economy,compared to
that of the SACU countries, and that had to be taken into account.
””””"At the end of the day, our goal is to create jobs and growth here as well
as in the United States."
””””According to Zoellick, the pact would create tremendous opportunities for
sub-Saharan Africa. But he added "ultimately, ithas to be done by Africans
themselves. We can create opportunities."
””””"The age of dependency in Africa was over," he said, adding "wecan't do
things for everybody else."
””””US trade representative's words won applause from organized agriculture
business in South Africa, who said that South Africa was in an ideal position to
kick-start the region's economy.
””””The Agricultural Business Chamber, an affiliate of Agri-SA and representing
some 100 agri-businesses, said South Africa had the "sophistication, knowledge
and networks" to implement the proposed free trade agreement.
””””The chamber's new executive director, Tobias Doyer, told reporters that
most of the countries in southern Africa were agriculturally-based, and "one of
the best ways to develop the gross domestic product and to boost economic growth
was to link upwith other strong first-world countries."
””””He said South Africa had the requisite networks to utilize a free trade
agreement.
””””However, Doyer cautioned against South Africa being perceived as a
"1000-pound gorilla in the forest" and taking the lion's share of trade at the
expense of other countries.
””””A "perception change" was needed so that South Africa
could be seen as "a 1000-pound friend" and policies needed to be devised
toensure that there was "equalization of the playing fields." Enditem
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