Sweden provides $5m to boost Uganda's exports

Jun 10, 2013

Sweden has signed an agreement with Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) providing 35 million kronor ($5.3 million) to bolster its Uganda programme to increase exports and sharpen the country's competitive edge in East African integration.

By Joyce Namutebi            

Sweden has signed an agreement with Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) providing 35 million kronor ($5.3 million) to bolster its Uganda programme to increase exports and sharpen the country's competitive edge in East African integration.


The money will, among others, be used to help operationalise a One Stop Border Post (OSBP) under construction at the key frontier post of Busia, through which most of Uganda's imports and exports must pass along the northern corridor from Kenya, a Press release issued Monday said. This is one of the most expensive trade routes in the world, it added.

The funding is continued core support for TMEA's work to improve Uganda's trade by cutting through some of the procedural and bureaucratic red tape that slows trade between the landlocked East African state and her neighbours, the release issued by TMEA said.

 TMEA Chief Executive Officer, Frank Matsaert, said at the signing ceremony on Thursday that "We eagerly look forward to the day when this OSBP becomes operational and reduces the duplication and delays that add to the cost burdens of importers and consumers in Uganda and its neighbours."

The funding by Sweden, one of TMEA's donors, will also help upgrade a customs management system to further save time and to help the Uganda Bureau of Standards implement a modernisation plan, the release said.

TMEA's Uganda Country Director, Annette Mutaawe said, "TMEA Uganda greatly appreciates the funding provided by the Government of Sweden to complement funds available by other partners, namely the UK Department for International Development and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Uganda. This will help consolidate the gains already made in the programme."

In Uganda, TMEA is helping the government and private sector through a number of projects to maximize the potential for economic growth that the integration of the 140-million-strong East African market offers.

 

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