ECA Organises Workshop on Trade Facilitation and Study Tour to the Port of Djibouti

Addis Ababa , 9 May 2008 (ECA) - The Trade, Finance and Economic Development Division (TFED) of ECA organized a workshop on trade facilitation as well as a study tour to the Port of Djibouti and two border posts between Ethiopia and Djibouti on 5 and 6 May 2008. The events were organized in collaboration with Dubai Ports World (DP World), the company responsible for managing the Port of Djibouti . The workshop and study tour were organized as part of a United Nations Development Account project entitled “ Interregional partnership for promoting trade as an engine of growth through knowledge management and information and communication technologies ” . The project seeks to disseminate the benefits of trade facilitation and the standards, tools and requirements for its successful implementation.

The workshop and study tour were attended by senior officials from Ethiopia and Djibouti, including representatives of customs, ports authorities, ministries of transport and trade, road and rail authorities, chambers of commerce, transit agents, maritime organisations, transport operators, and the private sector. Participants exchanged views and experiences on constraints to the movement of goods along the Addis-Ababa-Djibouti corridor and made recommendations on how to improve the present situation. In particular, they underscored the need for close collaboration between all stakeholders with the view to reducing delays and the cost of moving goods along the corridor. In that regard, they stressed the importance of accelerating the establishment of a technical committee for the management of the corridor.

Participants experienced some of the problems faced by transport operators as they, together with several trucks involved in international transport and local traffic vehicles, were delayed for several hours during the visit to the border posts as a result of heavy rainfall and a flash flood that made portions of the road difficult and in some cases impossible to use.

At the end of the events, participants thanked ECA for organizing the workshop and study tour and urged the Commission to assist in the creation of the Corridor Management Committee.

ECA/ICS
P.O. Box 3001
Addis Ababa - Ethiopia
For more information contact:
Tel: 251 11 5445098
Fax: +251 11 5510365
E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org
Web:http://www.uneca.org/

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