The Member States agree that special consideration should be given to the least developed countries and economically depressed areas of the Common Market in the service sector. In this regard, the Member States undertake to:
(i) maximise the use of the existing potentials to respond to the needs of the sub-region;
(ii) improve investment conditions for the service sector for nationals and foreigners; and
(iii) develop support services including technical capacities, designing, adjustment of the service, market survey, advisory and contractual services.
Article 149. Other Areas of Co-operation
The Council may from time to time adopt other priority areas to be considered in the context of the provisions of this Chapter.
Article 150. Special Fund for Co-operation, Compensation and Development
1. The Council shall establish a special Fund for Co-operation, Compensation and Development for tackling the special problems of under-developed areas and other disadvantages arising from the integration process.
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Article, the Member States shall conclude a Protocol which shall, inter-alia, determine the machinery and formula to be used in granting compensation under this Article.
Chapter Twenty-Three. Development of the Private Sector
Article 151. Creation of an Enabling Environment for the Private Sector
1. The Member States agree to provide an enabling environment for the private sector to take full advantage of the Common Market. To this end, the Member States undertake to:
(a) promote a continuous dialogue with the private sector organs at the national and regional levels to help create an improved business environment for the implementation of agreed decisions in all economic sectors; and (b) provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs to participate actively in improving the policies, regulations and institutions that affect them so as to increase confidence in policy reforms, raise productivity and lower costs at enterprise levels.
2. For the purpose of implementing the objectives of paragraph 1 of this Article, the Member States undertake to:
(a) improve the business environment through the promotion of conducive investment codes, the protection of property and contract rights and the regularising of the informal sector;
(b) stimulate market development through infrastructure linkages and the removal of barriers and constraints;
(c) provide up to date commercial intelligence regularly to speed up market response through co-operation among the chambers of commerce and industry;
(d) encourage sourcing of purchases by governments and parastatals within the subregion;
(e) facilitate and support the exchange of experience and pooling of resources through, inter alia, cross-border investments;
(f) strengthen the role of chambers of commerce in national economic policy formulation;
(g) in collaboration with the chambers of commerce and industries, establish lending institutions that shall primarily cater for the entrepreneurs, especially the small-scale ones, which currently find it difficult to obtain credit from commercial banks and financing institutions; and
(h) encourage the use of the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank facility to finance the private sector.
3. The Consultative Committee established by Article 7 of this Treaty shall provide the main link in the dialogue between the private sector and other interest groups and organs of the Common Market.
Article 152. Strengthening the Private Sector
1. The Member States shall endeavour to adopt programmes to strengthen and promote the role of the private sector as an effective force for the development, progress and reconstruction of their respective economies.
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Article, the Member States shall undertake to:
(a) encourage the efficient use of scarce resources, infrastructural and programme growth of private or business sector organisations which are engaged in all types of economic activity. These include the chambers of commerce, confederation and associations of industry, agriculture, manufacturers, farmers, external trade, commodities, services, professional development groups and others;
(b) increase co-operation in the development of instruments and services which could be shared or absorbed through such organisations and which are currently handled by a Member State. By accepting to operate these transferred services, the organisations manifest both their legitimate concerns and interests of their constituency, and as a revenue source. These may include the issue and fee structure for: visa certification, certificate of origin, transit documentation, translation certification or services, notarisation and others deemed suitable for administration by the private sector organisations;
(c) support a viable and autonomous central point for purposes of information operations, coordinating, production, administration, analytical and computerisation tasks. The technical infrastructure needs to be simple, well-understood by all its participants and meet the commercial and business nature of the beneficiaries;
(d) encourage and sponsor practical and resourceful methods of income generation and co-operation, with a view to reverse the trend of declining membership, poor services and lack of motivation for advancement; and
(e) advocate programmes which will allow the collection, harmonised processing and speedy dissemination of information.
Article 153. Co-operation Among Chambers of Commerce and other Business Organisations
The Member States undertake to co-operate in promoting common measures to ensure the strengthening of linkages among chambers of commerce. To this end, the Member States agree to:
(a) support joint activities which will promote trade and investment, both among the Member States as well as global partners;
(b) recognise and contribute to the efficient operations of region-wide or federation of business representation organisations, professional and commercial interest groups and similar regional associations; and
(c) encourage, promote and monitor decisions taken by the Consultative Committee and other relevant Common Market organs particularly in areas affecting business people, through their representative organisations.
Chapter Twenty-Four. Women In Development and Business
Article 154. Role of Women In Development
The Member States agree that women make significant contribution towards the process of socioeconomic transformation and sustainable growth and that it is impossible to implement effective programmes for rural transformation and improvements in the informal sector without the full participation of women. To this end, the Member States shall through appropriate legislative and other measures:
(a) promote the effective integration and participation of women at all levels of development especially at the decision-making levels;
(b) eliminate regulations and customs that are discriminatory against women and specifically regulations and customs which prevent women from owning land and other assets;
(c) promote effective education awareness programmes aimed at changing negative attitudes towards women;
(d) create or adopt technologies which will ensure the stability of employment and professional progress for women workers; and
(e) encourage and strengthen institutions which are engaged in the promotion and development of labour-saving devices aimed at improving the productive capacity of women.
Article 155. Role of Women In Business
1. Having recognised the importance of women as a vital economic link within the chain of agriculture, industry and trade, the Member States agree to:
(a) increase the awareness of Women in Business issues at the policy level;
(b) create an enabling environment for the effective participation of women in Common Market trade and development activities;
(c) promote special programmes for women in small and medium-size enterprises;
(d) eliminate such laws and regulations that hinder women's access to credit;
(e) initiate changes in educational and training strategies to enable women to improve their technical and industrial employment levels through the acquisition of transferable skills offered by various forms of vocational and on-the-job training schemes; and
(f) recognise and support the Federation of National Associations of Women in Business established to promote the effective participation of women in the Common Market trade and development activities.
2. The Federation of National Associations of Women in Business shall be represented at the Consultative Committee and be represented at the meetings of the Technical Committees of the Common Market. 3. Implementation activities pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter shall be submitted to the appropriate Technical Committees depending on the technical items under consideration.
Chapter Twenty-Five. Human Resources Development and Technical Co-operation
Article 156. Development and Utilisation of Human Resources
1. The Member States agree to undertake concerted measures to foster co-operation in human resources development and greater utilisation of human, technical know-how and institutional capabilities in all the fields of activity of the Common Market.
2. The Member States shall, in particular:
(a) coordinate their human resources development policies and programmes;
(b) adopt a regional plan for the joint development and exploitation of human resources in terms of knowledge, skills, technological inventiveness and entrepreneurial abilities;
(c) promote the development of a critical mass of well-trained personnel in all sectors relevant to the Common Market;
(d) jointly utilise existing regional education and vocational training facilities in the Common Market and, where necessary, establish new ones;
(e) harmonise the curricula of training institutions in the Common Market; and
(f) encourage technical and student exchange programmes among the Member States.
Article 157. Technical Co-operation
The Member States agree:
(a) to develop a pool of national expertise and capabilities to support the implementation of regional programmes funded from the regular budget and provide counterpart project personnel for donor-funded projects;
(b) to develop a regional roster of all expertise, know-how and skills available in the region including those national experts not resident in the area;
(c) to design a mechanism for mobilising and effectively utilising national expertise in the Member States in the conceptualisation, design, implementation, monitoring and follow-up of regional projects approved by the Member States;
(d) to provide readily available resources for financing technical co-operation programmes in the Member States related to regional programming and the implementation of common projects;
(e) to provide resources to enable national experts from one Member State to assist other Member States to acquire skills and capabilities in specified areas related to regional co-operation; and
(f) to enable the Common Market to tap and attract national experts residing outside the region to participate in co-operation programmes.
Chapter Twenty-Six. Investment Promotion and Protection
Article 158. Scope of Co-operation In Investment Promotion and Protection
The Member States recognise the need for effective resource mobilisation, investment and the importance of encouraging increased flow of private sector investment into the Common Market for development. To this end, the Member States agree to adopt harmonised macro-economic policies that shall attract private sector investment into the Common Market.
Article 159. Investment Promotion and Protection
1. In order to encourage and facilitate private investment flows into the Common Market, the Member States shall:
(a) accord fair and equitable treatment to private investors;
(b) adopt a programme for the promotion of cross-border investment;
(c) create and maintain a predictable, transparent and secure investment climate in the Member States;
(d) remove administrative, fiscal and legal restrictions to intra-Common Market investment; and (e) accelerate the deregulation of the investment process.
2. For the purposes of investment protection, the following activities shall be considered as investment:
(a) movable and immovable property and other property rights such as mortgages, loans and pledges;
(b) shares and any other rights of participation in the management or economic results of a company or a firm, whether incorporated or not, including minority shares, corporate rights and any other kind of shareholding;
(c) stocks, bonds, debentures, guarantees or other financial instruments of a company or a firm, government or other public authority or international organisation;
(d) claims to money, goods, services or other performance having economic value;
(e) intellectual and industrial property rights, technical processes, know-how, goodwill and other benefits or advantages associated with a business; and
(f) such other activities that may be declared by the Council as investments.
3. The Member States agree that part of the conducive climate to investment are measures aimed at protecting and guaranteeing such investment. To this end, the Member States shall:
(a) subject to the accepted principle of public interest, refrain from nationalising or expropriating private investment; and
(b) in the event private investment is nationalised or expropriated, pay adequate compensation.
4. For the purposes of paragraph 3 of this Article, expropriation shall include any measures attributable to the government of a Member State which have the effect of depriving an investor of his ownership or control of, or a substantial benefit from his investment and shall be interpreted to include all forms of expropriation such as nationalisation and attachment as well as creeping expropriation in the form of imposition of excessive and discriminatory taxes, restrictions in the procurement of raw materials, administrative action or omission where there is a legal obligation to act or measures that frustrate the exercise of the investors rights to dividends, profits and proceeds of the right to dispose of the investment.
5. The benefits to private investors include the right to:
(a) repatriate investment returns including dividends and interest or other equivalent charges;
(b) repatriate royalties and other payments deriving from licences, franchises, concessions and other similar rights;
(c) repatriate funds for repayment of loans;
(d) repatriate proceeds from the liquidation or sale of the whole or part of the investment including an appreciation or increase of the value of the investment capital;
(e) payments for maintaining or developing the investment project, such as funds for acquiring raw or auxiliary materials, semi-finished products as well as replacing capital assets;
(f) remit the earnings of expatriate staff of the investment project; and
(g) the right to enjoy exemption from customs duties and other fiscal exemptions for the period provided for in the investment package of a Member State and depending on the area of investment.
6. The Member States agree that a reasonable period of stability of investment climate is the period required to refinance the investment.
Article 160. Information on Investment Incentives and Opportunities
The Member States undertake to increase awareness of their investment incentives, opportunities, legislation, practices, major events affecting investments and other relevant information through regular dissemination and other awareness - promoting activities.
Article 161. Double Taxation Agreements
The Member States undertake to conclude between themselves agreements on the avoidance of double taxation.
Article 162. Multilateral Investment Agreements
The Member States agree to take necessary measures to accede to multilateral agreements on investment dispute resolution and guarantee arrangements as a means of creating a conducive climate for investment promotion. To this end, the Member States undertake to accede to:
(a) the International Convention on Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States, 1965;
(b) the Convention Establishing the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency; and
(c) any other multilateral agreements designed to promote or protect investment.
Chapter Twenty-Seven. Regional Peace and Security
Article 163. Scope of Co-operation
1. The Member States agree that regional peace and security are pre-requisites to social and economic development and vital to the achievement of regional economic integration objectives of the Common Market. In this regard, the Member States agree to foster and maintain an atmosphere that is conducive to peace and security through co-operation and consultations on issues pertaining to peace and security of the Member States with a view to preventing, better managing and resolving inter-State or intra-State conflicts.
2. The Member States undertake to promote and maintain good neighbourliness as a basis for promoting regional peace and security within the Common Market.
Chapter Twenty-Eight. Free Movement of Persons, Labour, Services, Right of Establishment and Residence
Article 164. Scope of Co-operation
1. The Member States agree to adopt, individually, at bilateral or regional levels the necessary measures in order to achieve progressively the free movement of persons, labour and services and to ensure the enjoyment of the right of establishment and residence by their citizens within the Common Market.
2. The Member States agree to conclude a Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Labour, Services, Right of Establishment and Right of Residence.
3. The Member States agree that the Protocol on the Gradual Relaxation and Eventual Elimination of Visa Requirements within the PTA adopted under the PTA Treaty shall remain in force until such time that a Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Labour, Service, Right of Establishment and Residence enters into force.
Chapter Twenty-Nine. Co-operation In other Fields
Article 165. General Co-operation
1. Subject to the provisions of this Treaty, the Member States undertake to consult with one another through appropriate organs of the Common Market for the purpose of harmonizing their respective policies in such fields as they may, from time to time, consider necessary or desirable for the efficient and harmonious functioning and development of the Common Market and the implementation of the provisions of this Treaty.
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Article, the Member States may take in common such other steps as are calculated to further the aims of the Common Market and the implementation of the provisions of this Treaty.
Chapter Thirty. Financial Provisions
Article 166. Budget
1. There shall be a budget of the Secretariat.
2. A draft budget for each financial year shall be prepared by the Secretary-General and approved by the Council.
3. All expenditures of the Secretariat shall be approved in respect of each financial year by the Council and shall be met from the budget.
4. The resources of the budget shall be derived from annual contributions of the Member States and such other sources as may be determined by the Council. The contributions of the Member States shall be based on the budget as approved by the Council.
5. In determining the annual contributions for each Member State, the Council shall assess the annual contributions for each Member State on the basis of the formula determined by the Council from time to time.
6. Fifty percent of the contributions due from a Member State shall be paid into the budget of the Secretariat within one month from the beginning of the financial year to which they relate and the remainder shall be paid within six months from the beginning of that financial year.
7. There shall be supplementary budgets approved by the Council to meet extraordinary expenditures of the Secretariat.
Article 167. Contributions by Member States
The Council shall determine the payment and currencies of contributions by the Member States to the budget of the Secretariat.
Article 168. Common Market Levy and other Resources
1. There is hereby instituted a Common Market levy for the purpose of generating resources for financing Common Market activities.
2. The source, level and conditions for the applications of the Common Market levy shall be determined by the Council.
3. Other resources of the Secretariat shall include such extra budgetary resources as:
(a) grants, donations, funds for projects and programmes and technical assistance; and
(b) income earned from activities undertaken by the Common Market.
Article 169. Accounts of the Secretariat and External Auditors
1. The accounts of the Secretariat relating to each financial year shall be prepared in accordance with international accounting standards and shall be audited in the following financial year by External Auditors.
2. The External Auditors shall be appointed from time to time by the Council on the proposal of the Secretary-General. Such External Auditors shall be based in the Common Market and be qualified to practise in accordance with the national laws of the Member States. The External Auditors shall be persons of outstanding repute and integrity and who shall have demonstrated a high degree of professional skills.
3. The External Auditors shall act in accordance with any general or specific directions of the Council and, subject thereto, shall: (a) determine its own procedure; and
(b) submit its report of the audit to the Secretary-General not later than six months from the expiry of the financial year to which the accounts so audited relate.
4. Upon receipt of the report of the External Auditors, the Secretary-General shall circulate copies thereof to every Member State and convene a meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee or Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Matters to examine the report and to make recommendations in relation thereto before the report is submitted to the Council for adoption.
5. The Council may make regulations for the better carrying out of the provisions of this Article and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such regulations may provide for the terms and conditions of service and the powers of the External Auditors.
Article 170. Financial Regulations
The Council shall make financial regulations for the application of the provisions of this Chapter.