“Cooperation between the East African Community and the German government has benefitted me by facilitating me to attend EAC workshops, trainings, and regional meetings to discuss and harmonise the laws and policies of the Community.” Abraham Ariik Chol, Director of Trade, Economic and Productive Sectors, Ministry of EAC Affairs (MEACA), Juba, South Sudan.
Abraham, with the support of the EAC-German partnership via GIZ, has participated in training and capacity development activities that have expanded his understanding of regional integration under the EAC and implementation of the same in South Sudan.
Further, Abraham has participated several times in the East African Regional Tourism Expo to represent South Sudan in the spirit of promoting the EAC region as a single tourism destination. He stresses the importance of South Sudan as a developing destination to share experiences with other Partner States and increase visibility through joint promotional activities.
The EAC is receiving support from GIZ to implement the EAC Tourism Marketing Strategy, which aims to fully use the potential of this key economic sector and position the EAC region as the preferred sustainable tourism destination in Africa and beyond.
Beyond tourism promotion, Abraham, in collaboration with other Partner States representatives and the EAC Secretariat, under GIZ support, has played a role in the process of developing proposals to remove barriers and restrictions for EAC tour operators to enable the free movement of tourism services and service providers.
Find more information on EAC-GIZ tourism support here.