The East African Community and Belgium have held talks aimed at cooperation in the energy and education sectors.
According to a release, the Belgian Ambassador to Tanzania who is also his country’s envoy to the EAC Paul Cartier made the revelation while holding discussions with the EAC Secretary General Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko in Arusha.
The energy sector in the EA region has seen a surge in foreign interest, with several European and East Asian countries like China signing bilateral and multilateral cooperation agreements.
Meanwhile, during their discussions Amb Mfumukeko also briefed the Belgian envoy about the proposed reforms at the EAC Secretariat geared towards cost cutting, and pledged to make an official statement at a scheduled meeting with key development partners on June 7 in Dar es Salaam.
On his part Amb Cartier congratulated Amb Mfumukeko for his appointment as EAC SG and noted the impressive progress in the EAC integration process.
Commenting on the progress of the dialogue process for Burundi Peace Talks currently being held in Arusha, the Belgian envoy hailed the Facilitator of the Inter-Burundi Dialogue, former Tanzanian President Benjamini Mkapa for being able to mobilize a large number of representatives to attend the dialogue. At least 83 delegates have turned up representing various stakeholders in Burundi.
The Ambassador however expressed concerns about the negative publicity of the event in some of the media channels in the region. Both Secretary General and the Ambassador were in agreement with the clarion call by the Facilitator for renouncing the violence in Burundi.
