‘EU programmes should benefit Eswatini’

Ezulwini – His Excellency, Karsten Mecklenburg, Ambassador-designate says EU programmes should benefit Eswatini.

Mecklenburg was part of the delegation of the European Union to the Kingdom of Eswatini and was speaking during the launch of the pilot implementation for the Electronic Certificate of origin.
He pointed out that the EU was COMESA’s biggest development partner and has been the leading supporter of the COMESA’s regional integration efforts and hence investing grant funding of EUR 381 million to date.
Moreover, he outlined that in 2023, COMESA and the EU signed two Financing Agreements, which will provide further new grants to COMESA with total value of EUR 48.2 million, financed under EU’s Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument 2021-2027:
“First, the Trade Competitiveness and Market Access program (EUR 40 million) will focus on improving the overall trade competitiveness of COMESA member states, while seeking opportunities that come along with global challenges, such as climate change, and making trade more sustainable”

“Secondly, the Trade in Services program (EUR 8.2 million) will further contribute to enhancing the overall competitiveness of enterprises that provide services, including through digital platforms.”
The Certificates of Origin are issued to exporters within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Free Trade Area (FTA) to confer preferential treatment to goods originating from an FTA member State.
Nevertheless, when the processes to obtain these certificates are too costly to be implemented by firms relative to the expected benefits, exporters would rather pay tariffs than comply with strict rules of origin, leading to low utilization of the Trade agreements.
This tool, when fully implemented, will replace the manual certificates and help to avoid an onerous and time-consuming manual process.
The implementation of the COMESA Electronic Certificate of Origin is a small part of a long-standing cooperation and partnership between the European Union (EU) and COMESA, built on a shared vision on regional integration and connectivity, dismantling barriers to regional trade, to increase policy coherence and to stimulate sustainable economic growth and development.
I encourage both COMESA and the Government of Eswatini to coordinate closely to ensure that the Kingdom of Eswatini benefit from these regional programmes. Your cooperation is crucial to have both regional programs efficiently implemented, while delivering concrete results and tangible outcomes for Eswatini.
The European Union has reignited its commitment towards the fight against climate change.
The e-CO launch happened within the EU Green Diplomacy Weeks 2024, which started in September in preparation for the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly known as COP29, which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
“As a concrete example of our commitment to spearheading the global fight against climate change, in 2024, the EU and COMESA signed another Financing Agreement of EUR 40 million: the ‘SWITCH to Circular Economy in East and Southern Africa’ programme.”
This initiative focusses on the inclusive transition from a linear to a circular economy, while promoting sustainable business models, impact investments and creating the jobs for the future.
It will contribute to reverse environmental degradation and recover natural capital, improve resource efficiency and reduce waste and pollution. More specifically, the programme will target the Packaging & Plastic Waste, as well as the Electronics & E-Waste value chains development within the COMESA region.
“The EU will continue to champion partnerships promoting sustainability, green, circular and digital transformation, as reflected in the Global Gateway Strategy, the European Green Deal, the Digital Strategy, and the Africa-EU Partnership, which frames our relation as closest partner countries.”

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