Museveni calls for quality products
Oct 08, 2009
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has challenged the business community to undertake research and innovation in modern technologies in order to promote agro-industry linkages.
By Milton Olupot
and Mary Karugaba
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has challenged the business community to undertake research and innovation in modern technologies in order to promote agro-industry linkages.
In a statement read by Premier Prof. Apolo Nsibambi at the opening of the 17th Uganda International Trade Fair, Museveni cited areas such as cotton and textile industry, sugar, fishing, pharmaceuticals and oil processing as potential investment areas.
The President also urged visitors and the business community from other countries to work with the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) and the Uganda Investment Authority to study what is on offer (raw materials) in agriculture and agro-processing.
“You can help us process our fruits into juices, our grain into flour, our coffee beans into instant coffee, our cotton into textiles and garments and our skins into leather and shoes,†Museveni said.
“We have an assured market across East Africa of 130 million that you can reach free of duty and without restrictions on quotas. I want all of you to take advantage of this opportunity,†he added.
Nsibambi flanked by the trade and industry minister Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, inspected the over 850 exhibiting firms before addressing investors at the UMA Conference Hall, Lugogo.
The President said the Government had recommitted itself to supporting various sectors, including mining and steel through the establishment of appropriate policy and legal framework.
He said this year’s trade fair theme: “Continuous improvement, a prerequisite to global competitiveness,†was in line with Uganda’s vision of putting in place varied but integrated economic programmes geared towards the modernisation of agriculture.
He pledged to solve the power problem to support the manufacturing industry. He said the industry could only survive on a viable and robust agricultural sector, especially for raw materials and purchasing power.
Museveni, however, warned that to be able to compete, manufacturers must ensure quality of products, delivered on time. He observed that the challenge to create and sustain jobs should not be left to manufacturers and the Government alone.
“The public has a major role to play to keep the industry alive. Each time one buys an imported product, one is economically depriving another Ugandan of an employment opportunity.
“A Ugandan is kept on the street each time one buys a foreign product that can be supplied at home. The issue of glorifying foreign products when there is an equally suitable local product must be addressed.â€
The UMA chairman, Kaddu Kiberu, complained that despite the industrial policy, permanent secretaries had continuously refused to buy Ugandan products for government use.
He asked Nsibambi to direct them to follow the law, so as to increase the market for locally-manufactured goods.
“We are actually not requesting them (permanent secretaries) but asking the Government to direct them to buy local products. The law demands that they should do that,†Kiberu said.
“We thank the Government for putting in place the industrial policy but unless we implement and follow what is in there, Ugandan manufacturers have no where to go,†he added.
Nsibambi said as an administrator, he could not direct them to buy locally-manufactured goods without investigating the reasons. “Otafiire has informed me that it is because of quality and corruption but I am going to first investigate,†he said.
Otaffire pledged to continue supporting the manufacturers, saying it is only through industrialisation that Africans can escape being re-colonised. On the issue of kavera (polythene bags), Otafiire blamed the manufacturers of being ‘lazy’ to write to him explaining the reasons why it should not be banned.
and Mary Karugaba
PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has challenged the business community to undertake research and innovation in modern technologies in order to promote agro-industry linkages.
In a statement read by Premier Prof. Apolo Nsibambi at the opening of the 17th Uganda International Trade Fair, Museveni cited areas such as cotton and textile industry, sugar, fishing, pharmaceuticals and oil processing as potential investment areas.
The President also urged visitors and the business community from other countries to work with the Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA) and the Uganda Investment Authority to study what is on offer (raw materials) in agriculture and agro-processing.
“You can help us process our fruits into juices, our grain into flour, our coffee beans into instant coffee, our cotton into textiles and garments and our skins into leather and shoes,†Museveni said.
“We have an assured market across East Africa of 130 million that you can reach free of duty and without restrictions on quotas. I want all of you to take advantage of this opportunity,†he added.
Nsibambi flanked by the trade and industry minister Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire, inspected the over 850 exhibiting firms before addressing investors at the UMA Conference Hall, Lugogo.
The President said the Government had recommitted itself to supporting various sectors, including mining and steel through the establishment of appropriate policy and legal framework.
He said this year’s trade fair theme: “Continuous improvement, a prerequisite to global competitiveness,†was in line with Uganda’s vision of putting in place varied but integrated economic programmes geared towards the modernisation of agriculture.
He pledged to solve the power problem to support the manufacturing industry. He said the industry could only survive on a viable and robust agricultural sector, especially for raw materials and purchasing power.
Museveni, however, warned that to be able to compete, manufacturers must ensure quality of products, delivered on time. He observed that the challenge to create and sustain jobs should not be left to manufacturers and the Government alone.
“The public has a major role to play to keep the industry alive. Each time one buys an imported product, one is economically depriving another Ugandan of an employment opportunity.
“A Ugandan is kept on the street each time one buys a foreign product that can be supplied at home. The issue of glorifying foreign products when there is an equally suitable local product must be addressed.â€
The UMA chairman, Kaddu Kiberu, complained that despite the industrial policy, permanent secretaries had continuously refused to buy Ugandan products for government use.
He asked Nsibambi to direct them to follow the law, so as to increase the market for locally-manufactured goods.
“We are actually not requesting them (permanent secretaries) but asking the Government to direct them to buy local products. The law demands that they should do that,†Kiberu said.
“We thank the Government for putting in place the industrial policy but unless we implement and follow what is in there, Ugandan manufacturers have no where to go,†he added.
Nsibambi said as an administrator, he could not direct them to buy locally-manufactured goods without investigating the reasons. “Otafiire has informed me that it is because of quality and corruption but I am going to first investigate,†he said.
Otaffire pledged to continue supporting the manufacturers, saying it is only through industrialisation that Africans can escape being re-colonised. On the issue of kavera (polythene bags), Otafiire blamed the manufacturers of being ‘lazy’ to write to him explaining the reasons why it should not be banned.