News / International
ACP – EU focus beyond 2020
09 Nov 2011 at 09:43hrs | Views
THE African Caribbean Pacific – European Union Joint Parliament is set to convene next week in Lome, Togo with a specific focus on the life of the Contonuer Partnership Agreement beyond 2020.
Deliberations at the conference will kicks off from 14-25 in the Togo capital will also deliberate on the life of the ACP-EU relationship after the retirement of the Contour Partnership Agreement.
More than 300 lawmakers from member States will attend the conference.
In an interview yesterday, Mberengwa East legislator, Makhosini Hlongwane who heads the Zimbabwean delegation said there has been a serious concern within the ACP following the introduction by the European Union of the Libson Treaty of December 2009.
"The Treaty no longer makes reference to the ACP as a group but instead fragments it into regions, and that will form part of the discussions we are going to have," Hlongwane said.
Many nations attending the oncoming meeting have viewed the letter and spirit of the Libson Treaty as an attempt by Europe to strengthen itself in terms of its multilateral engagement.
Thus Hlongwane added, "In attempting to re-engineer the life of the ACP after the retirement of the Contour Partnership Agreement in 2020, the ACP has opportunities of developing its intra-cooperation opportunities or looking at the emerging markets particularly the Brics nations," he said.
Brics nations are Britain, Russia, China and South Africa – they are so called because of their high speed of development and market growth.
Zimbabwe is smarting from Western imposed sanctions which have crippled the economy. The sanctions were called for by the opposition political party formations after the Government did a land redistribution reform meant at addressing racially skewed land ownership patterns.
The country has a worn out image which needs urgent repair it has to engage international trade that will return the balance of payments to a more favorable position.
It is thus in this regard that the country has to strategically engage all prospective and existing partners in the international community.
"We are going there as a united front of Zimbabwean legislators and we will make our position known. We trust that with the valuable input we have gotten from other legislators here at home, we will be heard and play our part in the creation of a better world," said the former journalist-cum politician.
Deliberations at the conference will kicks off from 14-25 in the Togo capital will also deliberate on the life of the ACP-EU relationship after the retirement of the Contour Partnership Agreement.
More than 300 lawmakers from member States will attend the conference.
In an interview yesterday, Mberengwa East legislator, Makhosini Hlongwane who heads the Zimbabwean delegation said there has been a serious concern within the ACP following the introduction by the European Union of the Libson Treaty of December 2009.
"The Treaty no longer makes reference to the ACP as a group but instead fragments it into regions, and that will form part of the discussions we are going to have," Hlongwane said.
Many nations attending the oncoming meeting have viewed the letter and spirit of the Libson Treaty as an attempt by Europe to strengthen itself in terms of its multilateral engagement.
Brics nations are Britain, Russia, China and South Africa – they are so called because of their high speed of development and market growth.
Zimbabwe is smarting from Western imposed sanctions which have crippled the economy. The sanctions were called for by the opposition political party formations after the Government did a land redistribution reform meant at addressing racially skewed land ownership patterns.
The country has a worn out image which needs urgent repair it has to engage international trade that will return the balance of payments to a more favorable position.
It is thus in this regard that the country has to strategically engage all prospective and existing partners in the international community.
"We are going there as a united front of Zimbabwean legislators and we will make our position known. We trust that with the valuable input we have gotten from other legislators here at home, we will be heard and play our part in the creation of a better world," said the former journalist-cum politician.
Source - Byo24News
