The Secretary General of the East African Community Liberat Mfumukeko and the newly-accredited Irish Ambassador to the community Paul Sherlock have discussed several issues including the status of the EAC-EU Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) and the Inter-Burundi Dialogue.
The two also explored areas of collaboration in trade and investment, agro-processing, tourism and ICT, with the Secretary General informing Amb Sherlock that the EAC Secretariat was ready to mobilize and send an EAC Mission to Ireland to meet the Irish Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tourism and Investment Agencies, and other stakeholders to concretize the specific areas of cooperation.
Amb Mfumukeko and Mr Sherlock made the deliberations during the hand over of the Irish envoy’s accreditation letter dated August 30, 2016 from the Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Charles Flanagan, addressed to the EAC Secretary General, appointing Amb Paul Sherlock as the Irish representative to the EAC.
During the talks the Secretary General also briefed Amb Sherlock on the current achievements in the pillars of the regional integration and development process. He said the Community had expanded tremendously within a short spell of time, which has necessitated the Community to review its institutional set-up and work on sustainable financing mechanism.
Amb Mfumukeko further informed his guest of the reforms instituted within the EAC, aimed at cost cutting and prudent financial management.
In his remarks, Amb Sherlock hailed the Secretary General for the good work done in deepening the regional integration agenda. He said achieving the Customs Union and the Common Market and moving towards a Monetary Union within such a short time for the Community was commendable.
Present at the accreditation ceremony were Mr Robert Hull, the Second Secretary at the Embassy of Ireland in Dar es Salaam, Deputy Secretaries General Mr. Charles Njoroge (Political Federation) and Hon. Christophe Bazivamo, and other senior officials at the EAC Secretariat.
