Mugabe arrives in Nairobi for trade meeting скачать в хорошем качестве

Mugabe arrives in Nairobi for trade meeting

(23 May 2007) SHOTLIST 1. Various of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe walking to conference building surrounded by officials and security 2. Cutaway of military 3. Mugabe walking to the podium to address the delegates 4. Wide of delegates listening 5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe: "Because we are producers of primary products, the commodities we produce are not priced by us. They go to markets where they are priced for us and the prices paid us are prices fixed by others upon their evaluation of those products and not upon our evaluation of those products. They are the great ones, we are the small ones." 6. Wide of delegates 7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe: "In this regard the importance of ownership of our development programmes cannot be over-emphasised. (pauses for applause) And it is not just ownership of our development programmes, it is ownership of our resources as well, of our land, of our minerals, of our forests, of our animals." 8. Cutaway of delegates 9. Mugabe leaving podium and shaking hands with dignitaries UPSOUND: applause STORYLINE: Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, whose country is in a financial tailspin, told Africa's largest trading bloc on Wednesday that the continent will achieve true economic independence by producing finished goods for sale to the rest of the world. Mugabe spoke during the final day of a summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), which is trying to make it cheaper and easier to do business on an impoverished continent that is struggling to lure foreign investment. "Because we are producers of primary products, the commodities we produce are not priced by us," Mugabe told leaders of the 20-nation bloc, known as COMESA. "They go to markets where they are priced for us." "Prices paid us are prices fixed by others upon their evaluation of those products and not upon our evaluation of those products. They are the great ones, we are the small ones," he said. Zimbabwe is struggling through its worst economic crisis since independence in 1980, with an inflation rate in the thousands. The problems have been blamed on corruption, mismanagement and the often-violent seizures of thousands of white-owned commercial farms ordered by Mugabe beginning in 2000 that disrupted the agriculture-based economy. On Tuesday, COMESA endorsed a standard customs tax as part of a deal designed to make doing business in Africa more attractive to investors. The agreement is set to go into effect in 2008. The deal calls for charging 10 percent tax on semi-processed products and 25 percent on finished goods being imported into most of COMESA's member countries - lower than the taxes in place in many African nations. But not all COMESA's 20 members were prepared to join quickly, despite endorsing the deal, and some may never take part. Still, COMESA's outgoing chairman, President Ismael Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, said the union would lead to more foreign investment and deeper integration into the world economy. Established 12 years ago, COMESA represents about 390 (m) million people and has an estimated gross domestic product of 200 (b) billion US dollars. The value of trade within COMESA countries rose to 6.3 (b) billion US dollars in 2005, from 4.5 (b) billion US dollars in 2004, according to the Kenyan Trade and Industry Ministry. COMESA has been a free trade area since 2000 but only 13 of its 20 members have signed on to the free trade area agreement. Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki took over as chairman from Guelleh on Tuesday. Keyword-politics Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...