COMESA Business Forum set for November 13 and 14 in Kampala

COMESA ANNOUNCES DATES OF BUSINESS FORUM FOR KAMPALA SUMMIT

Following the hugely successful COMESA Tourism Forum, recently held in Nairobi with participants from the 19 member states, the COMESA Secretariat has just notified the participants of another opportunity to meet alongside the COMESA Summit 2012, due to be held at the Commonwealth Resort in Munyonyo, Kampala, Uganda.
Between November 11 17 will a business exhibition take place while the COMESA Business Forum will take place November 13 and 14.
The 8th COMESA Business Forum is an annual private / public dialogue and a dedicated Business Partnerships Forum that brings together many of Africas top business leaders, international businesses and regional policy makers on one platform to engage on common agendas that support business interests in the COMESA region. The Forum is held alongside the 16th COMESA Summit and provides a key opportunity for the private sector to meet and interact with key policy makers from COMESA countries, during the Forum and Summit.
This year, the regional forum in Kampala is co-hosted between the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda and the COMESA Business Council.
It is understood that following the success of COMESAs first ever Tourism Forum in Nairobi in August this economic sector will be on the agenda for the Kampala meeting and both the secretariat in Lusaka as well as the lead consultant are working flat out to provide a range of findings and recommendations generated by the Nairobi meeting for tourism sector participants coming to Kampala.
In the COMESA region, SMEs dominate the business world cutting across all priority sectors in Agriculture, ICT, Transport, Energy and Tourism among others.
Amongst the upcoming agenda points will be two of importance to the tourism industry across Africas largest trade block and it is expected that many attendees of the Nairobi Tourism Forum will also attend the meeting but in particular these two sessions:

GOING GREEN- A NEW WAY TO DO BUSINESS IN AFRICA
· Todays necessity for sustainable businesses. What are the various approaches to renewable energy that support the SME sector?
· A green business has become less of a luxury and more of an obligatory effort for a companys sustainability. The Forum will address the various opportunities of going green and the alternatives available to your businesses.

TOURISM AND BUSINESS
· E- tourism; Tourism Online- bridging gaps across the region;
· The World Tourism Organization (WTO) General Assembly in Africa- what is on the agenda?

Expect live reports from the COMESA Summit and the Business Forum and watch this space to get all the relevant news updates in November.