Envoys representing East African Community partner states in the United States have committed to collaboratively cultivate cultural diplomacy to promote investment in the bloc.

The Ambassadors emphasized the need for East Africans to come together to promote African culture as a strategy to spark interest in the region.

“We need to encourage and organize our festivals, start donning East African attire and promote our organizations to attract and popularize our region,” recommended Elsie Sia Kanza, Tanzania’s ambassador to the US, at a virtual consultative virtual meeting, hosted by the EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki, here on Friday.

The diplomat further challenged the EAC to avail marketing materials to all ambassadors in the region to advertise the region in their engagements and push for resolution of non-tariff barriers.

Her Kenyan counterpart Lazarus Amayo, who also chaired the meeting, noted the need for EAC to promote itself as a single tourist and investment destination.

“EAC needs to be proactive in pushing the integration agenda in the USA to prompt interest in investment and development partners,” he said.

The EAC representatives also rooted for a deeper collaboration with the EAC Secretariat in identifying specific competitive sectors setting the region apart and promoting them to the world.

Mull Katende, who us Uganda’s ambassador to the US emphasized on the need for promotion of industrialization to promote the region’s competitiveness, while South Sudanese ambassador in the US Phillip Jada called on East Africans living in the diaspora to be proactive in their activities and utilize regional institutions such as the East African Chamber of Commerce to provide forums of engagement.

In his rejoinder, Dr Mathuki provided an overview of his agenda for the region which includes; working towards reduction of non-tariff barriers to promote intra-EAC trade and increasing markets for EAC goods.

He equally called on the envoys to speak with one voice and be strategic partners in sharing development opportunities to the region.

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