The Southern African Development Community (SADC) officially launched yesterday the Free Trade Area (FTA), ushering in a new era of economic integration in the region.

FTA was launched under the theme "SADC Free Trade Area for Growth, Development and Wealth Creation."

The launch is supposed to lead to the establishment of a Customs Union by 2010, Common Market by 2015 and creation of a Monetary Union by 2016.

Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa, which has taken SADC chair from Zambia, said after the launch of FTA that "We reach an extraordinary milestone in our collective and ongoing integration program of SADC."

"We say with pride that our collective efforts have borne fruit, and that we have successfully met the objective we set ourselves. Indeed, it required hard work, dedication, resolve, and an unswerving commitment to mobilize our limited resources so as to meet our objective," the president said.

"This achievement must not be taken for granted. I raise this because we need to resuscitate that shared vision and commitment, the unity and cohesion that have characterized SADC from its inception, as we consider the next step that will be required further to advance our regional integration efforts in southern Africa," Mbeki noted.

The South African president said there are at least two reasons to reaffirm the importance of regional integration.

Firstly, "Regional economic cooperation and integration offer us the opportunity to pool our limited resources and build an economic base to address the challenges of economic growth and development," Mbeki said.

"Secondly, regional economic integration can create the basis for regional markets and industries to overcome the limits of small national market, to achieve economies of scale, and enhance competitiveness as a platform to participate more effectively in the world economy," the president added.

Also speaking at the launch ceremony, SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Augusto Salomao said the launch of FTA is conducive to the regional economic development and it will attract foreign investment in the region.

Salomao said it will help increase intra-SADC trade.