Assembly/AU/Dec.426(XIX) Page 1 DECISION ON BOOSTING INTRA-AFRICAN TRADE AND FAST TRACKING THE CONTINENTAL FREE TRADE AREA Doc. Assembly/AU/11(XIX) The Assembly, 1. RECALLS the Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.394(XVIII) taken on 30 th January 2012 at its Eighteenth Ordinary Session; 2. RE-AFFIRMS the commitment to deepen Africa’s market integration through the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) by the indicative date of 2017 and the implementation of the Action Plan for Boosting Intra-African Trade; 3. EXPRESSES satisfaction on the progress made in the operationalization of the High Level African Trade Committee (HATC) and for purposes of continuity and operational effectiveness agrees that each region shall nominate one Head of State to serve as a member of the HATC for a period of two years; 4. TAKES NOTE of the outcomes of the consultations mandated to our Committee of seven Heads of State and Government on the challenges of low levels of intraAfrican trade, infrastructure, and productive capacities to the fast tracking of the CFTA and the boosting of Intra-African trade and WELCOMES the conclusion that there are positive aspects of intra-African trade manifested particularly in the significant level of manufactured goods in the intra-African trade composition, and a sufficient level of infrastructure density that can constitute a good basis for fasttracking the CFTA and for boosting intra-African trade; 5. AFFIRMS nonetheless the critical importance of continuing to address the inadequacy of infrastructure including Roads, Rail, Ports, Energy, ICT, Transport inter alia and productive capacity by promoting value added products in order to exploit the larger economies of scale prospects and opportunities offered by the CFTA; 6. REQUESTS all Member States and the RECs to promote and actively support the realization of the CFTA and the Boosting of Intra-African Trade; 7. CALLS FOR the development of trade- related infrastructure and productive capacity building programmes and an enabling policy and legal framework by the AUC, RECs and Member States which build upon the frameworks of PIDA, AIDA, and CAADP so as to contribute specifically to the boosting of Intra-African Trade; 8. UNDERSCORES the importance of mainstreaming the implementation of the CFTA and the Action Plan for Boosting intra-African Trade at the national level through various measures and actions including the identification of focal points at national and regional levels, taking into account the need for dedicated