Uganda reaping fruits of regional cooperation
Jun 27, 2018
"If it was not for this East African market, Uganda's milk industry would have collapsed. It is the same case with maize," says President Museveni.
(All photos by PPU)
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY
President Yoweri Museveni attended the 14th Summit of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
He says the "dream that we started with our political elders" is bearing fruits.
President Museveni says that for example, Uganda now exports 1.7 billion litres of milk to regional partners.
He has also hailed his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta for works on the Kisumu port, in the western part of the country.
Museveni attended the summit along with President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Aggrey Tisa Sabuni, who is South Sudan's presidential advisor on economic affairs.
During their meeting on Tuesday, host Kenyatta said the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) will soon reach the Kenyan-Uganda border town of Malaba.
Kenya is done with the first phase of the SGR project. The 427km line from Mombasa to Nairobi is now operational.
Uganda is getting set to start construction of its own section of the railway. That will cost sh8 trillion. The financiers of the project - China Exim Bank - want the Kenyan section of the railway to connect to Uganda for the project to be financially viable.
The SGR is part of a major regional transport project that will link regional cities and suburbs in Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and DR Congo.
Here is what President Museveni said of the summit:
I was in Nairobi, Kenya for the 14th Summit of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects. I thank His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta for hosting us and for his passion for a strong East Africa.
|
President Kagame said the summit provided an opportunity to re-examine what has been done and what still needs to be done
President Museveni said a developed water transport system would greatly cut down on business costs
Meanwhile, the leaders endorsed the harmonisation of standards for 18 commonly traded commodities and to speed up development of inter-linked trading platforms