Dialogue on the East African competition policies proceedings of an EAC workshop in Kampala, Uganda (11th - 12th May 2000)

The forces of globalization of markets are continually reducing the ability of our individual national economies to survive. However, by pooling the East African resources and potentials together, we will be able to create greater opportunities for our respective economies to grow into stronger entities. The East African Community, which we have established, is expected to lead to the creation of a single market and investment area. One of the outcome of this process will be increased competition between firms operating in the region. In such a situation there is a need to adapt the existing competition rules to the changing needs for a functioning fair competition policy. This is one of the reason, why, Article 75 of the EAC-Treaty recognises the need for coordinated Competition Policies to be incorporated in the Protocol for the establishing the East African Custom Union. To review the Competition Policies of the Partner States, as well as the experiences in the European Union, the EAC Partner State and Secretariat held a workshop in Kampala on EAC Competition Policy, which was facilitated by German Agency for Technical Co-operation (GTZ). The Workshop was attended by the key stakeholders in this area which included participants from Government, Government Institutions and the Private Sector. The Workshop came up with useful and practical recommendations which will be an input into the EAC Competition Policy currently being formulated.