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WAKISO - Ambassador Mohammed Bin Khalil Faloudah, the new ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Uganda, jetted into the country on Wednesday (April 24, 2024). 

He was welcomed at Entebbe International Airport by Amb. Rashid Yahya Ssemuddu, on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Ambassador Faloudah, who was still jetlagged, could not interact with the press but promised to offer his remarks and plans after officially assuming office in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Ssemuddu on behalf of the government of Uganda, expressed optimism that the new ambassador will strengthen bilateral ties between Uganda and Saudi Arabia. 

"Having another ambassador confirms our strengthened relations as we look forward to your leadership in building our social, economic, cultural, and diplomatic ties as well as benefiting from your personal strength and skills," Ssemudddu remarked.

Ambassador Faloudah was once a deputy ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Myanmar, as well as a deputy ambassador to Finland working at the embassy of Saudi Arabia in the Swiss Confederation, the Republic of Estonia, and the Republic of Latvia. 

He was also a Consulate General of Saudi Arabia to the United States of America. He comes to Uganda at a time when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has signaled its long-term commitment to strengthen its relationship with Uganda.

Saudi Arabia through the Saudi Fund for Development, has injected close to $100m into Uganda's development projects in the fields of agriculture, education, healthcare, and energy in addition to improving trade of Ugandan commodities to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

Karim Kaliisa, an expert in gulf affairs intimated that relations between Uganda and Saudi Arabia date way back to the pre-colonial times founded on people-to-people efforts in terms of trade and religious pilgrimage.

"King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud visited Uganda in 1972, the first time for a Saudi king to visit any country outside the Maghreb region," Kaliisa intimated. 

Uganda remains a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation which is headquartered in the Saudi city of Jeddah. 

Through the Islamic Development Bank, to which Saudi Arabia contributes significantly, Uganda has benefited in a number of areas including education, infrastructure development such as roads and urban markets as well as healthcare and energy among others.

Through the Saudi Fund for Development, a number of projects have been funded in Uganda with the latest sh112b facilitation towards the construction and equipping of the Uganda Heart Institute, which commenced in September 2023.

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia and Uganda signed a bilateral labour agreement in 2014, signaling the formal movement of migrant workers from Uganda to the Gulf country. 

Today, over 150,000 Ugandans work in Saudi Arabia in both professional and domestic circles.

The respective development frameworks of the two countries are complementary and aligned to international transformative agendas.

 Saudi Arabia Vision 2030, is credited for transforming the desert Kingdom's infrastructure, institutional architecture, and economic development.

On the other hand, Uganda's Vision 2040 is on track to serve as the country's blueprint for development and social economic transformation.