LOCAL players in the agricultural sector will in July join counterparts drawn from Eastern and Southern African countries at an Importer and Exporter Conference whose main focus is to enhance trade of agricultural products in the region. The two-day conference which will be held in Harare is being organised by the Regional Agency for Agricultural Promotion and Advocacy in collaboration with the Shipping and Freight Agents Association of Zimbabwe and the Federation of Clearers and Forwarding Association of Southern Africa. The conference will run under the theme: ‘Enhancing Intra-Trade through Regional Integration’. In a statement, Regional Agency for Agricultural Promotion and Advocacy regional manager, Retlaw Matorwa said, the event was part of regional efforts to evaluate and assess the achievements made towards promoting intra-regional trade of agricultural products. “There is need to harness opinions and expertise from the region regards enhancement of intra-regional trade through interrogating various intra-regional trade instruments, facilities and polices,” he said. “The conference will also seek to address the key challenges facing agricultural trade in the region, what policy measures and strategic interventions to put in place. “The conference falls in the mandate of our organisation to publicise, sensitise and create awareness of various commendable intra-regional trade facilities available in the region.” Matorwa said during the conference, participants will be showcasing their products and services. “More than 150 regional exhibitors including local players will have an opportunity to exhibit their products and services and this exhibition will be a platform for players to share, exchange information and interact with other strategic partners,” he said. “This is an exhibition with a difference, as we are bringing in players with a regional focus and opportunities for strategic business synergies with local industry.” The Regional Agency for Agricultural Promotion and Advocacy was established in 2014 as part of regional efforts to support the work of regional economic communities (REC’s) such as East African Community (EAC), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The conference comes at the back of efforts by COMESA and SADC member states to improve on trade among members to ensure they benefited from their products. Governments were losing revenue as a result of lack of a policy to guide trade, COMESA said. In 2013, COMESA states recorded a US$6 billion trade deficit, importing goods worth US$41 billion against exports of US$35 billion. It is important to note that Africa is endowed with natural resources, but the continent has not benefited fully from them. The continent is exporting its natural resources especially minerals in raw form cheaply to other continents, and re-imports finished products made from these at high cost. In an effort to ensure that its resources are fully utilised for the growth of the economy, Zimbabwe in 2013 adopted the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-ASSET), an economic blueprint setting the agenda for economic revival. It is a step further, as resources are now owned by the people, on how they can utilise the resources for economic growth. Zimbabwe is the richest country on earth with respect to untapped natural resources per person and has over 40 exploitable minerals needed for industrial countries like America. The mandate of the programme falls in line with the policies being adopted by COMESA and SADC. Calls have been made by the groupings to industrialise, value add on its raw materials, harness domestic resources and use them to finance the development of the countries. To show its commitment on improving trade among member states, COMESA is formulating a COMESA Livestock Policy Framework to improve and guide livestock production and trade among its 19 member states. The policy is being put in place after the realisation by the member states that agriculture is the backbone of most COMESA member states with the livestock production sub-sector contributing immensely to the sector. Official trade data indicates that in 2012, COMESA member states generated an estimated US$580 million from the export of animal and their products, a core sub-sector of the agriculture sector. Cooperation and trade among member states would help ease the continued dependency on foreign direct investments by African states from the West. This move would no doubt ensure that the continent is self reliant.