Manufacturers want more incentives
Apr 21, 2009
INVESTORS who expand should be given incentives, the Uganda Manufacturers Association’s (UMA) chairman of the advisory council, James Mulwana, has suggested.
By David Muwanga
INVESTORS who expand should be given incentives, the Uganda Manufacturers Association’s (UMA) chairman of the advisory council, James Mulwana, has suggested.
“In the last financial year’s budget, tax incentives were given to investors who start projects 30km outside Kampala,†he explained. The tax incentive includes 75% initial allowance for plant and machinery for investors outside Kampala, Entebbe and Jinja areas and 50% for those who invest in those areas.
“It is only the new companies that are benefiting from the incentives, while existing ones looking to expand are not considered. This is one of the ways in which the Government would support manufacturers amidst the current credit crunch,†Mulwana said recently during a meeting of the manufacturers in Lugogo, Kampala.
He said the next budget should create a conducive regulatory environment and offer incentives that would result into a more friendly investment climate and attract more foreign direct investments.
“These would encourage local and foreign investors to invest in rural areas where Uganda has a comparative advantage and create more jobs for the rural population,†the association’s board chairman, Kaddu Kiberu, said.
“The private sector and the Government should develop a well-designed stimulus package that would lead to an increase in demand, output, employment, returns and improved access to capital by investors,†Kiberu suggested.
He said the ideal stimulus package should be in form of an infrastructure improvement package, which carries short and long-term benefits.
“That is creation of jobs in the short-term, while at the same time expanding the long-term potential of the economy. It should focus on Uganda and East Africa as a region.â€
“It should be in areas that are indispensable to the region’s growth. They include power and energy, transport infrastructure improvement to facilitate mass movement of goods and people within and outside the region,†Kiberu concluded.
INVESTORS who expand should be given incentives, the Uganda Manufacturers Association’s (UMA) chairman of the advisory council, James Mulwana, has suggested.
“In the last financial year’s budget, tax incentives were given to investors who start projects 30km outside Kampala,†he explained. The tax incentive includes 75% initial allowance for plant and machinery for investors outside Kampala, Entebbe and Jinja areas and 50% for those who invest in those areas.
“It is only the new companies that are benefiting from the incentives, while existing ones looking to expand are not considered. This is one of the ways in which the Government would support manufacturers amidst the current credit crunch,†Mulwana said recently during a meeting of the manufacturers in Lugogo, Kampala.
He said the next budget should create a conducive regulatory environment and offer incentives that would result into a more friendly investment climate and attract more foreign direct investments.
“These would encourage local and foreign investors to invest in rural areas where Uganda has a comparative advantage and create more jobs for the rural population,†the association’s board chairman, Kaddu Kiberu, said.
“The private sector and the Government should develop a well-designed stimulus package that would lead to an increase in demand, output, employment, returns and improved access to capital by investors,†Kiberu suggested.
He said the ideal stimulus package should be in form of an infrastructure improvement package, which carries short and long-term benefits.
“That is creation of jobs in the short-term, while at the same time expanding the long-term potential of the economy. It should focus on Uganda and East Africa as a region.â€
“It should be in areas that are indispensable to the region’s growth. They include power and energy, transport infrastructure improvement to facilitate mass movement of goods and people within and outside the region,†Kiberu concluded.