President Paul Kagame yesterday held talks with the visiting Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga at Village Urugwiro, and discussed a number of regional issues. The Kenyan Premier was in the country to attend the two-day East Africa Summit hosted by Swiss-based Economist Group – publishers of The Economist weekly magazine - to discuss the trade potential of the bloc.
President Paul Kagame yesterday held talks with the visiting Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga at Village Urugwiro, and discussed a number of regional issues.
The Kenyan Premier was in the country to attend the two-day East Africa Summit hosted by Swiss-based Economist Group – publishers of The Economist weekly magazine - to discuss the trade potential of the bloc.
Speaking to reporters shortly after the meeting, Odinga described the two-hour talks as fruitful.
"I briefed the Head of State about what is going on, what is expected out of this conference, but we also touched on regional issues---what we need to do to unlock the potential and the bottlenecks that are being experienced,” Odinga said.
The two leaders discussed the progress of the East African Community (EAC), and what countries need to do to speed up the integration process.
"We all agreed that all the five member countries in this region should work in tandem to remove the Non-Tariff Barriers to trade and also facilitate the movement of goods and people,” Odinga said.
"The issue of work permits is of concern to all of us. Rwanda and Kenya have already led the way by removing work permits and we would like to see other member states follow suit and do the same”.
During the high level Economist meeting, it was observed that the EAC is a top investment destination on the continent, thanks to its improved business environment.
Renown economists, business experts and investors from the region and beyond took part in the meeting that was also sponsored by The New Times, Bralirwa, CNN and, Trademark East Africa.