While these challenges continue to be felt at all levels of our societies, the silver lining is that valuable lessons have been learned from our shared experiences. These include:
◦ the need to scale-up our efforts towards self- sufficiency, especially in the agricultural sector;
◦ strengthening our strategic trade dimensions, given the regularity and frequency of disruptions to global supply chains in current times;
◦ expediting industrialisation in our countries and across the region, by developing and capacitating our manufacturing and energy sectors; as well as
◦ as identifying and exploiting strategic areas of comparative and competitive advantage, so as to elevate our cooperation to higher and more mutually beneficial levels.
