Uganda shines at Beijing expo

Ugandan producers and traders have impressed Chinese people when they started exhibiting and showcasing various the country's local products and finest brands in Beijing, China.

The Pearl of Africa is among the many countries worldwide participating in the International Horticultural Exhibition Expo, which is an international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations.

This year's world expo is held in Yanqing district of Beijing, the capital of the Peoples Republic of China. The expo is organized under the theme "Live green, live better. It was open from April to October 2019.

On the road to Yanqing, there are posters on buildings and roadsides carrying "International Horticultural Exhibition Expo 2019" and flags of different countries from all over the world.

 The hut

Inside the expo ground, country's stalls are classified according to the regions they are located. Uganda's hat is surrounded by Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Burundi. Djibouti, Chad and the Central African Republic in the north.

Across the road is expo centres for the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and other Arab countries.

Uganda's stall is housed in a round shaped traditional Teso or Kabale hats, which gets you the real feel of a true rural Uganda.

A picture of a tough looking mountain gorilla, a crested crane, coffee and tea trees welcomes you to Uganda's hat.

Inside the hat, there are three Ugandan attendants; two youthful gentlemen and one dark-skinned woman.

One identified as Barnabas Senoga, working as a sales executive at Ebenezer and Sons United stores says the expo is moving on well.

"There's a good response as many buyers and prospecting customers travel to the expo park from different parts of China," Senoga explained.

They are different exhibitors from different Ugandan companies but all licensed by the Uganda Export Promotions Board.

 Ugandan products on display

Uganda's local Shea butter products, coffee, dried fruits, cassava flour, cow horns and pieces of jewelry are some of the items being exhibited here.

Every few minutes, Chinese and many people from different nationalities fill Uganda's stall to taste on various items.

"People have admired our products, in fact, cow horns and Shea butter products are appreciated so much," Senoga added.

China is providing such opportunities to developing countries to market their products to the bigger Chinese market as a strategy to combat protectionism.

Critics of the China-Africa cooperation have always castigated the trade imbalance between the two parties as many say that Africa has not had an opportunity to penetrate into the Chinese market.

President Xi Jiping implored countries to use this chance to introduce their products to China during the Belt and Road Forum held in Beijing, in April this year.

A delegation from Uganda is expected in Beijing next week to participate in Uganda's national day official opening of the expo on June 22^nd under the theme "Experiencing the Pearl of Africa".

The official opening will be organized by the Ugandan Embassy in Beijing.

Uganda and China still enjoy good development cooperation which spans for decades with China being at the forefront of improving the pearl of Africa infrastructure.