Support local investors - civil society tells government
Joyce Kyalema displays some of the products she makes out of pumpkin such as ginger tea spice and peanut butter, among others. The civil society group wants government to promote local investors over foreign ones. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
Foreign financing no option. Experts noted that no country has developed using financing from foreign financing institutions.
Kampala. A civil society group wants the Trade ministry to promote local investors over foreign ones to create employment opportunities.
This follows cases where the Trade minister, Amelia Kyambadde, has on several occasions invited foreign investors to exploit the opportunities in various sectors of the economy, with the latest being in the pharmaceutical industry.
Civil society group, Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI), is discontented over government’s move to “liberalise everything.”
Mr Cyprian Batala, the assistant commissioner external trade, said although government has a role to protect her industries, allowing foreign players particularly imports of pharmaceutical products is important to help millions of Ugandans access the essential medicine.
“...You cannot let people die [because you are protecting infant industries].Manufacturers [of medicines] are welcome and will get incentives,” Mr Batala said on Tuesday at a workshop.
The workshop was aimed at reviewing the implications of trade agreements between the European Union-East African Community and Economic Partnership Agreements on the manufacturing sector in Uganda.
Ms Jane Seruwagi Nalunga, the country director of the SEATINI, said government is doing little to protect its infant industries as majority are out-competed by the foreign companies that are well established financially.
“Government has over liberalised. We need cheap pharmaceutical medicines, yes. But how about tomorrow when we want to compete? We need to support our industries,” Mr Nalunga said, stressing that Uganda does not benefit much from the trade agreements with powerful countries because: “Market access does not mean market entry” for Ugandan products.
Agreements
Trade agreements. Last year in November, Uganda under the EAC configuration concluded the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) after about 12 years of negotiations.
