Business leaders maintain the positive statistics have not led to reduction of EA trade with the outside world in favour of increased intra-regional trade, now standing at 12 per cent.
The East African Community (EAC) should double intra-regional trade to 24 per cent from the current 12 per cent in the next five years.
Trade within the region would also be boosted through diversification of production, the delegates who included company CEOs agreed.
Under this, each country would produce goods on high demand for the rest of the region given its comparative advantage.
Other strategies suggested to boost trade include flexibility in border controls, promotion of regional value chains and development of regional local content.
Trade within the six nation EAC bloc catapulted to $3.2 billion last year from $2.7 billion in 2016 and $2.9 billion in 2017, thanks to some simplified procedures.
