The ECOWAS Commission and its Development Partners are jointly organizing a meeting on regional economic integration on Monday 29^th of June 2015.

Officials of some of the Commission’s Directorates charged with specific mandates of integration are gathering at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja interface to brainstorm with the partners from the European Union (EU), German International Cooperation Agency –Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) etc.

The theme of the end-of-June Meeting is: Fostering Regional Economic Integration and Development in West Africa. The Meeting is expected to provide insights into the efforts of the development partners and ECOWAS Commission in the realization of the regional integration and development programmes.

Other significant issues on the agenda to be appraised are general trade facilitation, Common External Tariff (CET), Community Development Programme (CDP), Monetary Integration Programme (MIP), Private sector promotion as well as industrial policy strategy and projects  

A preparatory meeting between the ECOWAS Commission and the development partners was earlier held in Abuja to discuss the status of the two partners’ preparedness for the regional economic integration group meeting.

The meeting is also meant to create a platform which would enable ECOWS Commission to provide relevant information to the Development Partners on the status of implementation of the Community Work Programme while at the same time offering clarification on emerging issues and those already raised by the Development Partners