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Free trade area

    JOHANNESBURG
    Southern African Development Community (SADC) trade ministers are to hold a two-day meeting next week in South Africa on the implementation of a regional free trade area, the 'Times of Zambia' reported on Wednesday. South Africa's ratification of the trade protocol, bringing to two-thirds the number of states that have accepted the trade pact, means the way is now open to launch the free trade area with a market potential of 200 million people, the paper said. Of the 11 member states which initially signed the protocol in Lesotho in 1996, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe have so far ratified. The trade ministers meet on 17 December.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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