MUSEVENI | INVESTORS | DEVELOPMENT 

KAMPALA - President Museveni assured more economic returns to investors intending to buy into Uganda's economy, ranging from agriculture, technology, skills development, mining, tourism, construction and many others. 

While speaking to Chinese investors of Jiangmen municipality in a virtually televised meeting, President Museveni said, to invest in Uganda, one is assured of returns much higher than any place in the world. 

"There is a market of 600million people in East and Central Africa plus 1.2 billion people in Africa's free trade area with the increasing aggregate consumption by the growing middle-class," noted President Museveni.

He also expressed an opportunity for investors to export to the Middle-East and Asian markets. 

Officials from Uganda and Chinese Jiangmen city posing for a group photo.

According to President Museveni, Ugandan government and that of the People's Republic of China, have worked together over the years along with other partners, to build modern infrastructure including roads, water-transport systems, restoration and expansion of the airport, bridges, hospitals, schools and provision of electricity, businesses and industrial parks. 

"This has given Uganda a superb infrastructure network that allows low cost of doing business and access to the market," noted president Museveni.

The president did not forget to mention Uganda's stability and security with a growing workforce of 41million people. 

About the country's climate, the president said, Uganda is one of the few countries on the equator with an average climate of 25 degrees Celsius all year round. 

"This allows us to grow 2-3crops a year on average and very good animal production. We, therefore, invite you to process our oranges, mangoes, coffee, tea, beef and export them to China and to further markets," concluded the president.

Museveni also expressed an opportunity for investors to export to the Middle-East and Asian markets.

The one-day virtual investment meeting was organised by Uganda's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Uganda Consulate General in Guangzhou, in collaboration with the Jiangmen Municipal People’s Government, of the People’s Republic of China. 

The sole objective of the conference was to woo Chinese investors to explore viable investment opportunities in Uganda.

Ambassador Solomon Rutega, Uganda’s Consul General to Guangzhou highlighted the promotion of economic and commercial cooperation between Uganda and China as the central objective of the Consulate’s work. 

According to Amb. Rutega, this effort involves attraction of foreign direct investment in Uganda’s strategic sectors, increasing the number of outbound Chinese tourists to Uganda and increasing productivity and expanding the export base to the Chinese market.

"Previously, our engagement with Jangmen municipal authorities has been through direct engagement and targeted visits to selected enterprises. 

The last of these targeted visits took place in January this year, which was a bridge that this conference be organised to share information about Uganda to a large group of enterprises," intimated Amb. Rutega.

Uganda's vision 2040, outlines several sectors to be strengthened to harness Uganda's potential and opportunities. 

Among the sectors include tourism, agriculture and agro-processing, oil and gas, human resource skills development, science and technology, energy and infrastructure development. These, according to Amb. Rutega, all have huge investment potential. 

"We are in the final stages of establishing direct air links between Uganda and Guangzhou through our national carrier, the Uganda airlines. We wish to recommend the business delegation to Uganda as soon as conditions can permit," Amb. Rutega wooed.

Speaking on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Joyce Onek Badaru, the head of international economic cooperation department, commended the efforts of the Uganda Consulate and the Jiangmen Municipal City authorities for convening the investment Conference. 

Officials from Uganda and Chinese Jiangmen city posing for a group photo.

She reiterated that the investment conference is in line with the Ministry's deliberate policy of Commercial and economic diplomacy that aims at pursuing and consolidating an avenue for Government of Uganda to increase international trade and to stimulate the national economy which leads to industrial transformation and economic development.

Onek said the investment conference was seeking to attract business enterprises mainly in the area of mining and mineral value addition in Uganda. 

She noted that Uganda is home to several mineral types such as Gold, Cobalt, Iron, Copper, graphite, marble, limestone and gemstones. 

Currently, the government through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development has identified 18 potential mineral targets for mineral exploration in Uganda.

On the other hand, Cai De Wei, the Vice Mayor of Jiangmen Municipal People’s Government conveyed a message of gratitude to the Uganda Consulate in Guangzhou and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kampala for undertaking the initiative.

He further informed that the Jiangmen City Authorities and the different businessmen are willing to engage further with Uganda to contribute further to the development of the textile industry.

Wei expressed commitment by the City of Jiangmen to continuously explore and deepen exchanges and cooperation with Uganda in the fields of economic trade and investment, tourism, agriculture, health, construction and people-to-people exchanges.

The Conference was attended by the Leaders of the Jiangmen Municipal City Bureaus, Businessmen and women from Jiangmen, representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Officials from the Uganda Missions in China, Uganda Investment Authority, Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Uganda Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, and members of the Business community in Uganda and China.