NAIROBI, KENYA: Deputy President William Ruto has asked member states of the East African Community (EAC) to stop unnecessary suspicion that undermines the speedy integration of the region.

Mr.Ruto urged member states to look at the bigger picture of integration as an instrument of progress.

“We must go beyond petty issues, we must look at the bigger picture because we are going to be better together, he said.”

The Deputy President added, “We are better off together by creating a regional block that makes sense to any investor.”

He made the remarks at the Kenyatta International conference Centre (KICC) when he represented President Uhuru Kenyatta in officially opening the 3rd EAC Heads of state retreat on Infrastructure Development and Financing.

The Deputy President pointed out that the imperative driving regional integration for the East African Community is the urge to achieve faster development of the peoples and countries in the region in the face of intense global competition.

Mr. Ruto said that East African countries should position themselves in a way that makes them competitive by putting in place necessary infrastructure and challenged member countries to open their borders for trade.

“We should develop infrastructure that goes beyond borders of individual countries to benefit from economies of scale,” he said.

He stated that the next area of focus would be agro-processing and value addition so that farmers in the region get value for their money.

As we look into the future, we shall be focusing on developing infrastructure that supports agro-processing so that we do not become a region that produces cheap raw materials for other regions, he said.

Among other key speakers in the retreat were; EAC secretary general EAC Dr.Richard Sezibera,chairperson of EAC council of ministers Samuel Sita,Dr Donald Kaberuka President of the African Development Bank and the Secretary General UNCTAD Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi.

Source: The Standard

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