Content area
Full Text
Port Louis, Mauritius: The 11th Regional Meeting of the African Caribbean Pacific-European Union (ACP-EU) Joint Parliamentary Assembly has ended with delegates rallying for the harmonization and rationalization of regional integration in the face of multiple memberships.
The Communique released at the end of the three-day meeting in Port Louis, notes the need to rationalize the processes of integration given overlapping memberships in order to strengthen integration. It further underscores the importance of embracing regional integration as a means to creating an enabling environment for economic growth, development and poverty reduction. The delegates at the meeting further maintained that Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) must support regional integration. In addition, the ACP Members expressed concerns on the elimination of sugar quotas scheduled for 2017 and called for additional time to complete their adjustment processes. This results from the fact that abolition of sugar quotas could lead to loss of competitiveness, revenues and adversely affect living conditions.
On regional infrastructure development, Members stated the need to catalyse and harness development within the sector. The Communique acknowledges that more attention needs to be paid to the needs of island...