Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of my delegation, I wish to convey our gratitude to President Pierre Nkurunziza, the Government and the people of the Republic of Burundi for the warm welcome accorded to us since our arrival here in Bujumbura.

I also commend Your Excellency President Nkurunziza for ably chairing the Summit for the last one year. Under your chairmanship, the East African Community has achieved important milestones that have brought enormous benefits to our people.

May I also take this early opportunity to thank Your Excellencies for bestowing the Chairmanship of the Summit and Community to me and Kenya respectively. I assure you that I will do everything possible to steer the Community to greater heights of integration.

Your Excellencies,

Our meeting today comes at a time when the benefits of regional integration have become increasingly apparent. The performance of the intra-East African Community trade, for example, has continued on an upward trend over the last five years, rising from about 2 billion US Dollars in 2004 to about three and a half billion US Dollars in 2009.

A closer look at both the exports and imports of each one of the Partner States reveals similar upward trends over the period. This progress has been achieved in partnership with the private sector.

We encourage our business people in East Africa to re-double their efforts in playing their rightful role as the engine of growth in the Community. Several measures also need to be taken to improve the business environment in our region.

First, there is need to eliminate Non-tariff Barriers that continue to raise the cost of doing business in East Africa significantly. We also need to fast-track the establishment of one-stop border posts at the key border points. These measures will no doubt facilitate trade in the region.

Secondly, there is urgent need to facilitate small and micro-enterprises to do business in the regional arena. Although the majority of our people are engaged in this sector, their operational capacities are too small for them to compete with bigger corporations. As a Community, we need to step up measures to empower this important sector. I also call upon large business corporations in the region to promote the Small and Medium Enterprises sector through subcontracting.

Thirdly, we must have efficient infrastructure systems, including roads, railways, airports, ICT and energy. While we appreciate the work already done in the implementation of the East African Road Network Project, there is undoubtedly much more that remains to be done.

Your Excellencies,

The success of our Community is linked to the state of affairs in our entire region. The instability in Somalia continues to spill over to the whole region. Indeed, our economies continue to face serious challenges arising from the breakdown of rule of law in Somalia.

I wish to reiterate our call to the United Nations Security Council to take serious steps towards stabilization of Somalia. The insecurity in Somalia is indeed an international problem and we urge the international community to complement the efforts of regional bodies, including IGAD and the African Union, towards bringing peace and security to the country.

As we encourage the international community to support the ongoing efforts, I express my gratitude for the support that member states of EAC have pledged to the Kenya Government and the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia in the effort to pursue the Al Shabaab insurgents.

Your Excellencies,

In conclusion, during this session we have considered a number of items. These include:

1. The Annual Report of the Council of Ministers for the period November 2010 to November 2011,
2. The report of the Council of Ministers on the proposed attainment of a Single Customs Territory;
3. A report of the Team of Experts on fears, concerns and challenges on the Political Federation; and
4. The application by the Republic of Sudan to join the East African Community.

These issues are of critical importance to the future of our Community. I am confident that our deliberations during this Summit have marked an important milestone in the advancement of our integration process. I urge all member states to play their respective roles in ensuring that our resolutions are implemented for the common good of the people of East Africa.

Thank you and God bless you.