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Portuguese Industrial Association - Business
Confederation
Internationalisation Directorate
Praça das Indústrias
Apartado 3200
EC Junqueira
1301-965 Lisboa
PORTUGAL
Phone: +351 21 360 16 29
Fax: +351 21 364 67 86
internacionalprojectos@aip.pt |
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EU-Africa Business
Summit 2007
7th December 2007
Lisbon International Fair - Meeting Centre |
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The EU-Africa Business Summit 2007
was held in Lisbon, Portugal, on the occasion of the 2nd
EU/Africa political Summit, in the framework of the Portuguese
Presidency of the European Union.
The Business Summit brought together African and European
business leaders, aiming to reinforce the economic
dimension of the relationship between Africa and the EU
and to urge the political leaders to pursue a structured
political dialogue. Building on the ACCRA conclusions,
the EU-Africa Business Summit aimed the reinforcement
of the private sector's commitment to work with the African
and the European Unions to strengthen Africa's economic
Development, with special focus on trade and Investment,
Resource development and Infrastructure.
The EU-Africa Business Summit constituted therefore a
prime moment to lend a new drive to the relations with
the African continent, and included the debate on the
regional Economic Partnership Agreements as an instrument
to promote effective integration of these countries into
the regional and global economy. Both African and European
business leaders discussed, furthermore, issues such as
Trade, Investment and Resource Development and Infrastructure
in Parallel Thematic CEO's Round Tables.
During Plenary Session, CEOs' approved the conclusions
of the EU-Africa Business Summit, built on the "Accra
conclusions".
Business leaders' conclusions were delivered to the political
leaders: President of the African Union, President of
the European Union, President of the European Commission
and President of the African Union Commission, during
the Second Political EU-Africa Summit that took place
on the following day.
The Business Summit was organized by the Portuguese Industrial
Association - Business Confederation (AIP-CE), the Confederation
of Portuguese Industries (CIP), BUSINESSEUROPE, and the
PAN AFRICAN Employers Confederation, in cooperation with
the European International Contractors and the Portuguese
Civil Construction and Public Works Industrial Federation,
with the contribution of the EU-Africa Business Forum
and with the high patronage of the EU Portuguese Presidency
and the European Commission. |
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Background: |
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The historic first EU-Africa Summit
was held in Cairo in 2000, under the Portuguese Presidency.
The Cairo Declaration and the Cairo
Plan of Action signed at this Summit contained
a number of ambitious commitments. More importantly perhaps,
the Cairo Summit set in motion a more structured political
dialogue between the EU and Africa, with regular meetings
of senior officials and Ministers.
However, the real turning point in the EU-Africa dialogue
was the launch, in 2001, of the New Partnership
for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Even more important
was the creation of the African Union (AU)
the following year.
In October 2005, the European Commission adopted its Communication
on an EU Africa Strategy. Two months later
the European Council endorsed many of the proposals made
in the Communication and adopted a first common, coherent
and comprehensive EU Africa Strategy subtitled Towards
a Strategic Partnership. The aim of this EU Strategy
was to establish a single framework for all EU players
and confirm Africa's development as one of the EU's top
political priorities.
Working on all three levels of the partnership - national,
regional and pan-African - the Strategy was based on three
central assumptions:
- without good governance, rule of law, security and
peace, no lasting development progress is possible;
- regional integration, trade and interconnectivity
are necessary factors to promote economic growth;
- if Africa is to achieve the MDGs, more support is
needed on issues with a direct impact on living standards,
such as health, education and food security
The Commission's Communication From Cairo to Lisbon
- The EU-Africa Strategic Partnership, adopted
in June 2007, stresses, however, that "if the EU
wants to remain a privileged partner and make the most
of its relations with Africa, it must be willing to reinforce,
and in some areas reinvent, the current relationship
- institutionally, politically and culturally. The adoption
of the EU's Africa Strategy in 2005 was an important first
step but it is now time to move on from a strategy for
Africa towards a political partnership with Africa. In
2007, the EU and Africa are therefore working together
to strengthen their cooperation at the political level
and lay the foundation for a long-term strategic partnership,
going beyond development cooperation, beyond Africa, beyond
fragmentation and beyond institutions."
At the economic level, the European General Affairs and
External Relations Council (GAERC) adopted the Economic
Partnership Agreement (EPA) Regulation by qualified majority,
at a meeting on 10 December 2007. The Economic Partnership
Agreements within the scope of the renegotiation of
the Cotonou Economic Partnership Agreement will be important
to an improved access to the European Market, as well
as to the reinforcement of the essential conditions to
private investment in Africa, such as:
- The introduction of the principle of reciprocity
in the new trade scheme to be defined;
- A clear, transparent market rules and legal security
ensuring an improvement of the business environment;
- A greater dimension of the regional markets by means
of strengthening the degree of economic integration
between African countries of a given region;
- A better access to African markets;
- A coordination of the initiatives of the EU strategy
for Africa, with emphasis on the Partnership for infrastructure.
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