ATPC Advisory Board Begins its Annual Meeting

Addis Ababa, 24 September 2009 (ECA) - The African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC) annual advisory board meeting opened in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Thursday 24 September.

Opening the meeting, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Ms Lalla Ben Barka, said ATPC was established to respond to the “compelling need to build the human and institutional capacity of African governments to formulate and implement sound trade policies and participate more effectively in trade negotiations.”

She listed some of the challenges faced by African countries including overcoming the continuing dependence on exporting primary commodities due to the lack of economic diversification.  She also noted that many African economies are not competitive due to poor economic infrastructure.  The lack of good infrastructure also limits the ability of several countries to fully exploit trading opportunities that currently exist under preferential arrangements with the European Union and the United States.

Ms Ben Barka noted that ATPC had effectively contributed towards enhancing African countries capacities to develop technical trade proposals; and increased coordination and harmonization of regional and sub-regional trade positions.

She assured the advisory board that ECA would provide strong support to ATPC to enable it to achieve its objectives and address trade challenges in African countries.  She urged the board to critically review ATPC’s work programme and advise on the way forward.

The ATPC advisory board is chaired by United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of ECA, Mr. Abdoulie Janneh.  The membership includes representatives from the African Union, African Development Bank, Canadian International Development Agency, East African Community, Economic Community of West African States, International Trade Centre, United Nations Development Programme, Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, Southern Africa Development Community.  The board also has members from academic institutions, private sector organisations and civil society organisations.

The board reviews and approves the work programme of ATPC annually and monitors its effectiveness in achieving its objectives; and provides strategic direction.