Marrakech, 25 March 2019 (ECA) - ECA’s Executive Secretary Vera Songwe, met the Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) Secretary General Taïeb Baccouche on Saturday 23 March in Marrakech, on the sidelines of the ECA 52nd Session and Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
Discussions focused on the work of the UMA General Secretariat in support to member countries’ ratification of the AfCFTA agreement.
Baccouche mentioned ECA’s collaboration with his organization in fields with key implications for regional integration in the Maghreb region, such as the economy, trade or food security. He welcomed ECA’s Office for North Africa’s support to the Arab Maghreb Union in areas such as institutional support or capacity building.
Discussions also focused on identifying areas of ECA support to UMA, such as AfCFTA implementation, employment and SMEs, or statistics to monitor the implementation of the SDGs and Agenda 2063.
Jointly created by Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania and Tunisia in 1989, the Arab Maghreb Union aims to facilitate regional integration of the Maghreb region, support the progressive realization of the free movement of people of services, goods and capital and promote joint policies to facilitate development in the industrial, agricultural, commercial and social fields.
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