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LUSAKA, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Zambian government has challenged a regional trading bloc to do more to make the region a more conducive area for investment attraction and business development, a senior Zambian official said Wednesday.
Siame Kayula, Permanent Secretary for Commerce, Trade and Industry, said the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) still had a lot to do in terms of investment attraction.
"COMESA deserves better than the 19.7 billion U.S. dollars attracted during the year 2015 in terms of foreign direct investment. We need to do much more not only to attract but also to retain more foreign investments and encourage domestic investments," she is quoted as saying by the Times of Zambia.
In remarks delivered during a meeting of experts on the adoption of the revised COMESA Common Investment Area framework, Kayula said Zambia welcomes the revision of the framework as a legal instrument that was designed to increase investment flows with the regional bloc, adding that it will help member states create a stable region and good investment environment.
Nagla Al Hussain, COMESA acting secretary general, said the long-awaited framework whose other objective was to allow free movement of capital goods and investors came as a remedy to a vacuum in the regional investment regulatory area.
This would be a great milestone once adopted and signed by member states in reaching the ultimate goal of COMESA in relation to facilitating investment flows in the region using the required standards on investment treatment and facilitation, she added.
The current COMESA Common Investment Area framework was was adopted in May 2007. Enditem
