China Ministry of Commerce has entered into a deal with African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat to establish an Expert Group on Economic Cooperation.
AfCFTA and the ministry have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Friday to effect the deal that would touch experience-sharing on intellectual property rights, customs procedures.
The other areas are digital trade and competition policy; exchange of concepts, policies and sharing progress on the institutional capacity and implementation of the AfCFTA.
Also China will share information on its foreign trade and investment facilitation cooperation; enhance cooperation on trade and investment in the context of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC); and offer support towards the building of the AfCFTA Secretariat.
The Secretary-General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Mr Wamkele Mene, who signed for his side from his base in Accra, said, “While all these areas will be beneficial to the work of the Secretariat, the aspects on intellectual property rights, investment, competition policy and digital trade would be particularly critical for the forthcoming AfCFTA Phase II negotiations. “
He said China had made tremendous progress in the knowledge economy, where innovation was the driver for economic growth and intellectual property was the anchor of innovation.
