Foreign Ministers from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) are due to meet in Nairobi on Monday ahead of the Heads of State and Government Summit the following day.

A statement from the COMESA Secretariat said on Sunday the foreign ministers from the Africa's premier multilateral organization would discuss the COMESA communique among other issues affecting the regional trading bloc.

The Summit to be held in Nairobi on May 22 to 23 will address strengthening and consolidating of the free trade area and also focus on the progress on Economic Partnership Agreement negotiations with the European Union.

The summit will also explore possibilities of putting in place the customs unions for their markets by 2008 and promote regional trade and investment.

Last week, trade ministers from the COMESA countries meeting in Nairobi agreed on a common external tariff system for the region.

The landmark decision now paves the way for the launch of the Customs Union in the 20-member regional bloc in December 2008.

The ministers also agreed to set up a COMESA Fund next month to help countries improve infrastructure, and cushion some from adverse effects of trade policies.

The Africa's premier multilateral organization is moving towards transforming the FTA into a Customs Union by 2008, characterized by deeper integration and merger of customs territories into a single customs territory.

Under the arrangement countries would eliminate tariffs and other restrictive regulations on trade to create a more conducive trade environment.

The bloc was founded in 1994 when it replaced the Preferential Trade Area which had been in existence since 1981.

(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2007)