Finland and Zambia sign trade agreement

The benefits of international trade agreements will be of little use to Zambia unless measures are put in place to support its supply-side constraints and build negotiating capacities. Which is why Zambia and Finland have launched a programme to improve its negotiating capacity in international trade agreements in order to allow it to benefit more from international trade, according to news service Xinhua. The aid for trade programme aims to support Zambia’s trade policy and regulations, trade negotiations and development of an enabling environment, economic infrastructure and productive capacities. Director of Foreign Trade in Zambia’s Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Industry, Peggy Mlewa, said Zambia had been facing challenges when engaging in international trade negotiations. She said deepening the knowledge of Zambia's negotiators was essential to ensure that they negotiated and protected the country's interests within the multilateral trading system. According to Mlewa, Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) under the EU have moved beyond trade in goods into new areas such as intellectual property rights and trade and environment, hence the need to build the capacity of local negotiators.