Turkish President Tayyip Edorgan jets in

The President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Edorgan and First Lady Emina on Tuesday arrived in the country for a one-day state visit. They were received by Sam Kutesa, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Today, Edorgan and wife would be received by President Yoweri Museveni and First Lady Janet at State House, Entebbe, where the two leaders are expected to hold bilateral talks and subsequently sign various agreements bidding Turkey and Uganda to cooperate in the areas of trade, defence, education, road construction and energy.

According to a statement issued by Margret Awino, an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, key issues that are expected to guide the Uganda-Turkey talks include trade, especially an invitation of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) aid agency to be established in Uganda.

"Uganda would do well to invite the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) to establish an office in Uganda. The Turkish Ambassador, H.E Sedef Yavuzalp has intimated that the President of TIKA, Mr. Serdar CAM is likely to be part of President Erdorgan's delegation, and that such an invitation would receive a positive response," the statement noted.

TIKA currently has offices in 10 African countries and 52 around the world.

The Kaweweta special economic zone project by ASB, a Turkish company is the other project that Erdogan and Museveni are expected discuss. Once completed the project in Nakaseke district, which would see a number of Turkish companies crop up in the area, would create 20,000 direct jobs and 2 million indirect jobs to Ugandans.

"The process of obtaining the Certificate of Title had delayed this project but has now been concluded and it will be issued during President Erdogan's official visit," the statement noted.

On the issue of the road sector, Kolin Insaat Construction Company from Turkey won the contract to upgrade the 92 km Hoima-Kaiso-Tonya road.

The issue of Somalia, where Ugandan troops are part of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), which is pacifying the country, is likely to be discussed by the two leaders.

Turkey, which is also confronting emerging issues related to terrorism, is constructing one of the largest embassies in Somalia, a country that has had a fair share of the brutality of terrorist groups such as Al-shabaab.

Still, in the area of defence, Museveni and Erdogan are expected to sign agreements on defence industry cooperation, training, technical and scientific cooperation in the military field and finance.

 Waiting for the arrival of the Turkish President at Entebbe Airport

In the sector of energy, Uganda and Turkey leaders are expected to sign cooperation agreements in the areas of hydrocarbons, mining and minerals.

Streamlining education sponsorship of Ugandan students is the other area that the two leaders would tackle today.

"The Ministry Education has proposed a Memorandum of Understanding with Turkey, in an effort to tailor these scholarships to Uganda's needs and harmonise their disbursement," Foreign Affairs said.

Later today, Makerere University will award Erdogan with an honorary Phd.