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By Ronald Njoroge NAIROBI (Xinhua) --
Kenya’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will expand by
at least ten percent if all the Horn of Africa states join the World
Trade Organization (WTO), a senior Kenyan government official said
on Monday.
Amina Mohamed, Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs told a media
briefing in Nairobi that by acceding to the global trade body,
Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan will be required to open
their economies to international trade.
“We therefore anticipate that Kenya will benefit from more
crossborder trade and hence its economy could expand by at least ten
percent,” Mohamed said during the opening ceremony of the First
Regional Dialogue on WTO accessions.
The three-day forum aims to mobilize support for facilitating and
accelerating African accessions to the WTO.
During the conference, government officials from Somalia and South
Sudan will receive a two-day practical training on WTO Accessions
during which they have an overview of the WTO accession process and
the substance of accession negotiations.
Mohamed noted that of the 21 countries in the process of joining the
WTO, eight are in Africa, four of which are in the Horn of Africa
region.
Mohamed said that intra-Africa trade remains very low due to the
numerous tariff and non-tariff barriers imposed by many African
states.
She said that WTO membership has numerous benefits and requires
countries to reform their laws and policies to conform to
international trade rules. |
