DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- The East African Community (EAC) 18th Sectoral Council on Transport, Communication and Meteorology began on Monday in the Burundian capital of Bujumbura to review projects and programs undertaken by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), the EAC said in a statement on Tuesday.
The EAC established the LVBC in 2001 as a mechanism for coordinating the various interventions on the lake and its basin and serving as a center for the promotion of investments and information sharing among the various stakeholders. The LVBC is the driving force for turning the Lake Victoria Basin into a real economic growth zone.
The statement issued by the EAC headquarters in Tanzania's northern city of Arusha said the meeting will also review undertakings of the Civil Aviation Safety and Security Agency and the One Network Area for mobile communications in the region.
The sectoral council meeting is also expected to give directions on the convening of the 5th EAC Heads of State Retreat on Infrastructure Development and Financing, the premier event that brings together political and policy decision-makers, technocrats, development partners, and the private sector to discuss ways of unlocking the estimated 50-billion-U.S.-dollar annual funding gap for the region's infrastructure development, said the statement.
According to the statement, the five-day meeting on Feb. 6-10 brings together stakeholders from government ministries in the EAC member states, agencies, regional organizations, and the private sector to discuss challenges in the development of infrastructure and make recommendations on how to address them.
The sector and sub-sectors involved in transport communications and meteorology are roads, railways, maritime transport, telecommunications, ICT, postal services, civil aviation, airports and meteorology, said the statement.
The EAC member states are Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. ■