Ambitious goal for Tripartite FTA

South Africa hopes to conclude the first phase of negotiations of the SADC-EAC-Comesa Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by 2014 with the first implementations of the agreement already happening by 2015, said Dr Brendan Vickers of the Department of Trade and Industry. “It’s what everyone is referring to as the Cape To Cairo plans and we are very excited about it. This agreement, officially known as the Tripartite FTA (T-FTA) encompasses some 26 countries with a GDP approaching $1 trillion.” Vickers said the first phase of negotiations covered trade in goods while the second phase would look at services and other trade-related issues.