Kutesa attends high-level forum of Africa, EU in Austria

Foreign Affairs Minister, Sam Kutesa during the meeting. Photo/Courtesy

DIPLOMACY

The high level forum of Africa and the European Union (EU) opened Tuesday morning in Vienna, Austria, with Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa representing President Yoweri Museveni as head of Uganda's delegation.

The forum is jointly hosted by the Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, in his capacity as President of the council of the EU for the second half of 2018 and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame Chairman of the African Union (AU), to promote innovation and digitalisation as important enablers of our future development.

The High level forum builds on the fifth African Union-European Union Summit held in Abidjan in 2017 that outlined the common priorities for the Europe-Africa partnership as: Economic opportunities for the youth, peace and security, mobility and migration and cooperation on governance.

The meeting has brought African and European leaders together with CEOs of major global companies, innovation champions and other stakeholders to reflect and act on what needs to be done to secure prosperity and competitiveness on both continents. The Heads of State of Kenya, Ethiopia, Guinea, Egypt and Ghana are among the leaders present from the African continent.

It was highlighted that there is untapped potential for deepening the partnership in technology exchange and trade, as well as their importance for economic growth, job creation and building resilient societies.

Yesterday, Kutesa also held a bilateral talks with Ms Karin Kneissl, the Foreign Minister of Austria, at the sidelines, where they discussed boosting cooperation, trade and investment between Austria and Uganda.