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President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is in Belgrade, Serbia this week to open up a hub for promoting Uganda’s trade, investment potential and tourism. 

Below is his message to the business community and people of Serbia.

To the Government, people and consumers in the market of the Republic of Serbia, I am delighted to introduce to you the organic, fresh and rich in nutrients agricultural products from Uganda.

I am also happy to introduce to you the ancient culture, cultural products and the people of Uganda. 

Our country lies astride the equator and straddles four different climatic zones — that is, temperate or alpine in the high altitudes in the west and east, savannah in the central and western low grasslands that carries all flora and fauna, the equatorial zones in the ancient rain forests — all at 27 degrees all year round.

We produce almost any agricultural commodity you can name from fruits and vegetables, meats, dairy, nuts and grains and essential vegetable oils. Our products are grown on smallholder farms with very much care given to their preparation because that is what we eat. 

The private sector is slowly introducing large-scale commercial farming to feed the region and the world because we are only 45 million people, but with ability to feed 200 million people and more given the fertile arable lands and the increasing technical knowhow of our young people.

We also serve the large emerging market of East Africa and the greater African common market which is more than $3 trillion and growing rapidly. In 10 years, our African market will be one of the largest in the world with young people consuming more.

I thank His Excellency President Aleksandar Vucic for sending me his minister for trade, the Honourable Tomislav Momirovic, who delivered the invitation for me to visit the patriotic republic of Serbia.

I will be coming with a delegation of 60 companies and businesspeople who are bringing you food and other products.

We would like them to partner with your companies to invest more in the agriculture sector in Uganda. 

I am happy that you have already expressed interest in our pineapples, coffees, grains, flowers, dairy and banana products. We commit to offer you all incentives on land, taxes and access to the larger market of Africa.

We will continue to use the lasting relationships we have had with you and the former Yugoslavia Republic, since 1963 when we opened bilateral relations and through the years, the work we have supported each other on, at the non-Aligned Movement and the UN. 

This will strengthen the cause of both our peoples, our institutions and humanity.

I would like that Uganda Airlines begins partnership with Air Serbia on landing in each other’s countries so that we can fast-track business, tourism and person to person exchanges. 

I encourage you to utilise the trade hub which we have named “Uganda Connect”, to make more orders for our products and to come see our country. 

This trade hub is located at the Belgrade waterfront. Please visit it regularly to have a taste of our foods and culture.

I thank the trade representative for Uganda, Mr. Bratislav, who has worked hard to open a new bridge for trade and investment between Uganda’s and Serbia’s private sectors and helped ensure Ugandan products come to your retail outlets. We welcome investment from Serbia to Uganda.

I wish you all good health and a lasting bond of friendship and solidarity.

Yoweri K. Museveni,

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA