The sixth session of transport, communications and public works ministers of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) kicked off Wednesday in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported.

The meeting will discuss how to strengthen cooperation among COMESA member states in the transport domain.

In his opening address, Egyptian Minister of Transport Essam Sharaf proposed that a number of ventures be implemented according to a specific timetable with financial support from member states or international donors.

One of the projects is the establishment of a COMESA navigation company with a capital of 100 million US dollars. Other projects cover railway and river transportation.

The 21-member COMESA was established in December 1994 to replace the former Preferential Trade Area (PTA). It forms a major marketplace for both internal and external trading with a population of over 385 million and an annual import of around 32 billion dollars.

Source: Xinhua