2nd MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT POLICY AND STRATEGIC PLANNING OF THE NORTHERN CORRIDOR

The 2nd meeting of the committee on Transport Policy and Strategic Planning was held at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala, Uganda, form the 17th to the 19th of September 2009.

The meeting was attended by delegates from the member states of the NCTTCA including representatives from the Southern Sudan, COMESA, the EAC, PMAESA and USAID/COMPETE.

In his opening remarks, the Executive Secretary of the NCTTCA was delighted to note the presence of all member states and other participants and thanked the government of Uganda for hosting the meeting and for the warm reception accorded to the delegates.

The Executive Secretary highlighted the activities of the NCTTCA in various areas since the last meeting of the committee including the NCTTCA Five-Year Strategic Plan which is now moving into its 3rd year, the Mid-term review which is an essential component in the evaluation of results and effectiveness of the implementation and activities and the development of a log-frame tool for the managing and measuring progress with a view to achieving programme objectives.
He further stressed that the review of transport policies and regulations by the member states was an essential step towards the development of a network to streamline transport systems and the promotion of regional integration.

He noted that the Transport Costs and Policies study funded by AfDB would help to develop an analytical model comparing long-term costs for the provision and maintenance of infrastructure (roads, rail, pipelines, inland waterways etc) to inform investment decisions in these areas.

He also highlighted the Transport Observatory project being undertaken by the NCTTCA with the objective of facilitating analysis, interpretation and dissemination of information on performance so as to enable the secretariat to provide sound advice to its members.

Mr. Patrick Sanya, Commissioner at the Ministry of Works who was representing the Uganda Permanent Secretary, delivered an apology for the Permanent Secretary who was held up due to other official engagements. He said that Uganda appreciates and supports the implementation of the programmes and activities by the NCTTCA secretariat. He appealed to the delegates present to review these programmes and activities in order to be able to reduce the cost of doing business on the Northern Corridor.

He also stressed on the harmonization of the current policies and regulations in the region and beyond. He welcomed the review of the Northern Corridor 5-year plan as it is expected to incorporate the national action plans in different member states.

The meeting discussed the progress report on the corporate goals and outputs, the progress report log-frame and the revised 5-year plan implementation. If also discussed the review of transport policies and regulations, the progress report on the analytical cost study and the regional trade and transport agenda.

Other deliberations were on the regional trade and transit facilitation activities including donor coordination mechanisms and challenges faced, the implementation of the action plan on the COMESA Facilitation Instruments along the Northern Corridor and the licensing of means of transport under the East African Customs Act.

The meeting also discussed the methodology and findings of the Transport Observatory including the 2009 Corridor Performance Indicators, the performance bench-marking by stakeholders, the database functionality and the dissemination methods for the indicators.

Finally the meeting considered the Transport Policy and Planning 2010 draft work-plan for the NCTTCA programme.