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ZAMBIA TRADE POLICY PARTICIPATION OF MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (MSMEs) AND CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATION’S. Presented by Musonda Kabinga JCTR Staff. PRESENTATION OUTLINE. About JCTR Zambia’s Trade Policy Major Provisions for Regional Trade
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ZAMBIA TRADE POLICY PARTICIPATION OF MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (MSMEs) AND CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATION’S Presented by Musonda Kabinga JCTR Staff
PRESENTATION OUTLINE About JCTR Zambia’s Trade Policy Major Provisions for Regional Trade Zambia’s Trade Performance Under COMESA (Case of 2011) Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Participation in Regional Trade AGOA Trade Initiative MSMEs Participation in Domestic Trade Civil Society Involvement in Trade issues Conclusion
About JCTR JCTR – From a Christian inspired perspective , our concern is that there should be social justice in society, in order for individuals to live a fulfilled human life Some MSMEs and face a lot of challenges as compared to large business enterprises Our work on trade is centred on promoting a market system that is inclusive and where all participate equally according to their the capacity
Country's trade policy is clearly defined Vision: “To become an export- driven and competitive middle-income economy by 2015, and to formalize, monitor and regulate domestic trade activities with a view to promoting a vibrant domestic trading sector.” The policy stipulates the specific trade regimes with corresponding policy objectives and policy prescriptions under each trade regime Further, the policy highlights; measures for tariffs and non tariffs, export financing, standards and quality assurance, fair trading, commercial services, export promotion and production infrastructure
Major Provisions of Regional Trade Protocols under COMESA and SADC SADC Trade Protocol Provisions: Preferential Tariff Treatment; goods shall be accepted eligible if they originate in the Member States and should comply with one of the following; Goods produced wholly in a member state Goods produced in a member state and the Cost Insurance and Freight value of any foreign materials used does not exceed 60% of the total cost of all materials used in the production SADC Tariffs
COMESA Trade Protocol Provisions: Free Trade Area, Eligible goods originating from member countries attract customs duty at 0% in the Free Trade Area
Intra –Comesa Trade, 2011, Values in US millions and % share Source: 2012 COMESA International Trade Statistics
As far as COMESA export market shares are concerned, Kenya had the largest market share of 20% for intra COMESA exports. Kenya was followed by Egypt, Congo DR and Zambia with shares of 16%, 12% and 11% respectively Though Zambia has done fairly well in intra COMESA trade, the major export commodity has been ores and metals followed tobacco, cotton and maize exports There is need for the country to increase exports of other commodities other than ores and metals
Participation of Small Businesses in regional Trade There are certain measures put in place by regional bodies such as COMESA to ensure that small business participate in regional trade through cross border trading The Simplified Trade Regime (STR), is one intervention intended to enhance trade efficiency in the region especially for MSMEs who fail to meet the complexities of cross border trade The top ten frequently traded products covered by STR include maize and maize products, beans, peanuts, millet, fruit, vegetable, fish, cooking oil, new clothes and cosmetics
Number of STRNNNHJDCFSDHJF;HDJKGH Transactions: Imports Number of STR Transactions: Imports Source: Cross Border Trade Bulletin, Quarterly Magazine from REFORM, No.3, from July September, 2011, p.3
Participation of Small Businesses in regional Trade The number of small scale traders utilizing the STR is still very small as compared to a number of traders in the country There is need for the government to urgently invest in popularising these available business facilities
AGOA TRADE INITIATIVE The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is a United States (US) Trade Act that significantly enhances U.S. market access for Sub Saharan Africa AGOA provision allows for duty-free access to the U.S market of approximately 7,000 product tariff lines for preferential market access Zambia’s exports to the US under AGOA have been growing
There is need to look at more ways of helping other small emerging businesses to be part of Trade and Investments Promotion missions to the US MCTI has been inviting different stakeholders(private sector, CSO) to input into the AGOA process More engagement on the AGOA process when Zambia develops an AGOA Country Strategy (ACS) that will clearly outline how different stakeholders will continuously engage in the process Extension of AGOA beyond 2015
MSME Participation in Domestic Trade There is an increase in a domestic trade activities being dominated by MSMEs Booming tourism, construction, mining, manufacturing, retail trade are some of the sectors where MSMEs are involved Very few MSMEs in the sectors mentioned are doing value addition, mostly it’s the supply of raw materials Growing competition from imported products going at very cheap prices
MSME Participation in Domestic Trade Need to harmonize our competition policy with the COMESA competition policy. This will ensure easy and adequate monitoring of competition and fair trade practices within the economy in light of the influx of foreign products from within COMESA region There are efforts by CCPC to harmonize with the COMESA competition policy, hence there is need to hasten these efforts Need for a mid-review of the Implementation of MSME policy Quick implementation of industrial clusters to enable MSMEs have access to value addition facilities
Civil Society Participation in Trade Issues Government’s commitment to allow various stakeholders including CSOs to be part of the Working committees on trade issues is commendable Inputs on various trade processes the country is undertaking CSOs Advocates for an enabling environment for the private sector Disseminate information on trade issues to small business at grassroots level
Participation of CSO’s in Trade Issues Communicates the challenges faced by businesses to government Collaborating with government agencies working on trade issues (CSOs members of various committees, e.g. DTS Committee Advocating for an inclusive trade regime
Conclusion Zambia’s trade policy is vigorous to ensure strong undertaking both domestic and external trade Need to speedy up implementation of the policy Need to revive the Buy Zambia Campaign to enhance production of local products
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