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Commonwealth Secretary-General Attends 9th COMESA Summit

10 June 2004

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon has attended the 9th Summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which was held in Kampala, Uganda, from 7 to 8 June 2004.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon arrives in Uganda for the COMESA summit

Mr McKinnon participated in discussions and made a presentation on corporate governance at one of the plenary sessions. While at the Summit, he held talks with the Presidents of Kenya, Malawi, Uganda and Zambia, the King of Swaziland and the Vice-Chairman of the African Union Commission.

The Secretary-General met for the first time the new President of Malawi, Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, who was elected into office on 20 May this year.

Mr McKinnon's discussions with the Commonwealth leaders centred on matters relating to the implementation of the conclusions of the 2003 Abuja Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and Commonwealth technical assistance to these member countries.

The Secretary-General also spoke at the COMESA Business Summit held parallel to the 9th COMESA Summit, warning that economies will wither if the highest standards of corporate leadership are not upheld. He said the Commonwealth has been actively promoting, and was one of the pioneers of good corporate governance, making it a priority in international development.

COMESA is a regional trading bloc comprising 20 African countries that aim to integrate their economies and strengthen their trade and investment links. The members of COMESA are Angola, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

 

CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 187      9 June 2004

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