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{
    "id": 1272516,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1272516/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 313,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Marsabit County, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Naomi Waqo",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you for allowing me to add my voice to this. Of course, I have already congratulated the Committee, especially the team on this trip. Our Committee was able to visit different places, and one of the things that really encouraged us was the free movement of East African-originated goods and our relationship. We should be proud of being part of the East African Community because we have people, culture, and fertile agricultural land. Our culture is very rich, and we have many good things and resources that God has blessed us with. Unfortunately, sometimes, we do not make good use of the opportunities and the resources that God has given us. This Report will help us understand the current situation to improve on what we already have. Hon. Temporary Speaker, the Committee made several observations. One of the observations the Committee made is that the intra-East African Committee trade for a number of years has consistently remained low at about 10 per cent, which is unfortunate. We ought to have grown. While we are at 10 per cent, international trade accounts for 90 per cent. In fact, we should aim to grow our economy and see how best we can interact and grow our businesses because that will help East Africa grow in a big way. That is one thing that we need to pick. The other thing is that the free movement of East African-originated goods is frustrated by the persistence of the Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) even after 16 years of implementing Customs Union. All this frustrates the business and trade that happens. There is a need for improvement that can have some positive impact. I congratulate the Democratic Republic of Congo that joined. It is the newest member of the East African Community. It joined us on 8th April 2022. This shows that we are growing, and there is a lot of strength in our growth. The only thing we need to improve and promote is cohesion and understanding so that we can unite and improve our economy, development, growth, and agricultural practice, and also promote our culture, which is quite rich. With those few remarks, Hon. Temporary Speaker, I support. Thank you."
}