How will a restructured or even disappeared Lome affect Swaziland, especially the sugar industry?
BD: The Lome Convention has been very important to Swaziland. The preferences have included the sugar and beef protocols and the margins of preference for textiles, horticulture and floriculture products. So the markets of the European Union offer great potential for increasing employment in labour-intensive industries and the kingdom’s foreign exchange earnings. The continued development of these export activities could, therefore, generate a significant level of private sector investment. The sugar protocol is not, itself, an integral part of the convention and has a separate legal existence. The end of Lome does not necessarily spell the end of the sugar protocol and it would seem reasonable to suggest that as long as the Community Preference remains the basis of the EU’s Common Agricultural policy, there is a strong case for maintaining the sugar protocol. AB: What about other commodities? BD: Their future will depend on the EU’S approach after Lome. AB: What is your vision of Swaz
