The 6th Core Team Meeting of the COMESA Leather Subsector was held at the Ambassador Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 23rd February 2013. The main objective of the meeting was to review past activities and the work plan for 2013.
It was resolved that the COMESA/LLPI should focus on activities as mandated by the COMESA treaty, summit and Council decision, LLPI’s Charter, and Medium Term Strategic Action Plan (MTSAP) – 2010 -2015, that are geared towards achieving tangible results, that would spur growth of SMEs and intra trade. The Meeting was attended by Dr. Mwinyikione Mwinyihija, COMESA/LLPI Director (outgoing Core Team member, Mr. Nicholas Mudungwe representing COMESA Secretariat, Mr. Musisi Bamu from Uganda, Mrs.David Daka and Francis Chikonde from Zambia, Mr. Zewdu Kebede, Programs Coordinator COMESA/LLPI, and Dr. Taddesse H.Mamo, Chairman of the Core Team. Dr. Mekonnen Hailemariam and Mr. Awlachew Sintie, Leather Value Chain and Information Systems Experts, respectively, participated as observers.
The Agenda Items discussed during the meeting included adoption of the Minutes of 5th Core Team Meeting, Matters Arising from Minutes, Review of Activities since the last meeting, closure of PACT II and the envisaged successor proramme, identification and consideration of new candidates for the Core Team.
The meeting was opened by Dr. Mwinyikione Mwinyihija, the COMESA/LLPI Director who stressed the importance of Core Team Meeting as it represents the interests of stakeholders in the entire COMESA region. In this regard it should act as a barometer on the performance of the COMESA/LLPI. The Core Team must draw75% of its membership from the private sector. This would ensure that its agenda would focus on issues of substance that was directly related to the issues impacting on the performance of the leather sector in the Region.
The Core Team will now be composed of 14 members who’s majority are drawn from the private sector, with 9 Partner Institutions identified and given observer position in the Core Team Meetings. Most of these Institutions are potential development partners, as COMESA/LLPI has geared itself in a resource mobilization drive, image and consensus building in its agenda to support a plethora of projects that it intends to implement in line with its five year Medium Term Strategy.