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The East African Community today stands as a region that operates under a fully fledged customs union. Further to this achievement is the signed Common Market Protocol in November 2009, deemed to commence in July this year. As we move towards a fully integrated economic community where goods, capital, labour and services move freely without borders, it is important to note the abundant potentials that East Africa poses today.

The  inaugural  Investment Conference hosted by Rwanda in 2008 brought together more than 1000 participants, amongst them regional and international investors and world business leaders, under the theme, Leveraging the East African Market through Trade and Investment”. The 2^nd annual conference hosted by Kenya in 2009 had about 2000 participants was themed “Invest in the EAC; where Global challenges are Opportunities.”

The 3^rd East African Investment Conference is to be hosted by Uganda from 27^th-30^th April 2010. This year’s theme “EAC Common Market: The Preferred Investment Destination for Expanded Opportunities”, will signal the implementation of the next hallmark in the EAC integration agenda: the EAC Common Market, which has been successfully negotiated by the Partner States over the last one year.

Rationale and theme for the Investment Conference

The East African Community is made up of 126.6 million people with a combined gross domestic product of USD 73 billion. With a fully fledged Customs Union in place, and the Common Market commencement slated for July 2010, the region has opened its market to fully enjoy the benefits of cross border trade and investment amongst the five Partner States.

The EAC Partner States are in the process of continuously harmonising their business systems, regulations and administrative structures to discipline trade and investment regimes to effectively leverage the region as “one market one destination” for business.

The Community, operating within the setting of the global environment also faces the same challenges that have bedeviled the world in the last couple of years. Top amongst these are climate change, food shortages, global financial crisis and security. Akin to Africa is the additional challenge of inadequate infrastructure. The conference will endeavour to address these challenges in an effort to improve the business environment.

Organisation
The Conference is organised by the host Partner State, the Republic of Uganda, in collaboration with the national Investment Promotion Agencies of the Partner States and the East African Community (EAC). The East African Investment Conference is owned by the East African Community (EAC), and is held annually, rotating amongst the Partner States.

Attendance

Attendance is by invitation only. Please register online for consideration.