Spare part dealers to benchmark Dubai, Iran, China

The minister for cooperatives Frederick Ngobi Gume has flagged off a delegation of nine vehicle spare parts dealers to benchmark the lubricants industry in Dubai, Iran and China for one month.

According to a statement from the ministry of trade, industry and cooperatives, the delegations key objective is to look out for machinery that can produce oil lubricants locally to stem the loss of hard currency through import substitution.

While presiding over the flag off ceremony, Gume said that government is willing to support the start of a local lubricant manufacturing plant through the revamped Uganda Development Corporation (UDC) by providing startup capital.

The traders under their umbrella association Uganda Motor Spares Traders Association (UMSTA) are also on a mission to fight the importation of substandard motor vehicle parts that have flooded the Ugandan market.

Speaking about the trip, UMSTA Christopher Mugenyi said that they had decided to pay a visit to Dubai and China to establish a local lubricants plant, and to locate the right sources of good quality motor vehicle spare parts in order to save the business which employs more than 30,000 people in Uganda.

"We are being swallowed up by non Ugandan middlemen and traders in the spare parts business because of the sub standard spare parts they import in the country, creating unfair competition," Mugenyi said.

"They are driving us out of business because of the cheap and fake spare parts they import in the country", he added.

Gume also urged the traders to promote Uganda both as a tourist destination and as an investment destination in the three countries of Iran, China and United Arab Emirates. He urged the spare parts dealers to acquire key manufacturing skills during their mission and to interest the Arabs and Chinese to start up factories in Uganda as this will create jobs for Ugandans.

The traders left with a consignment of Ugandan tea which they have taken for promotion in the Arab countries and China. Mugenyi says in his, they are implementing Government's import substitution strategy to reduce on the trade deficit.

Uganda's current account deficit improved from U$389.4m to $84m during the quarter ended Dec 2016, due to increased receipts from exports and decreased expenditure on imported goods, Bank of Uganda data indicates