Prime
Government identifies free land for investors
Left to right: State Minister for Investment and Privatisation Evelyne Anite, Foreign Affairs minister Gen Jeje Odongo and chairman of Pakistani Association of Uganda Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, share a cake in Kampala last Sunday. Looking on (right) is Pakistani High Commissioner to Uganda Mohammad Hassan Wazir. PHOTO | STEPHEN OTAGE
What you need to know:
- Finance ministry is mobilising land in local governments for investors, with 600 acres in Yumbe and 1,200 acres in Nebbi up for grabs.
The Ministry of Finance says several local governments in the country have identified free land which they have earmarked for local and foreign investors to build factories and add value to agricultural products.
While speaking at the 77th Pakistani Independence Day celebrations last Sunday, the State Minister for Investment and Privatisation, Ms Evelyn Anite, said her ministry is embarking on a campaign to encourage Ugandan investors to apply for the land to set up factories so that they can create employment to Ugandans and widen the tax base.
“As long as you have money that is enough to build a factory which is adding value to our agricultural products, we have mobilised land for value addition in local governments. We have 600 acres in Yumbe, 1,200 acres in Nebbi, and more than 1,000 acres in Eastern Uganda. We also have land in industrial parks across the country and the different local governments are asking us when we are getting them the investors,” she said.
Asked why the government has decided to give out free land to investors, she said the government has realised that most of the products dominating the East African Community market and the Africa Free Continental Trade Area market, are products coming from China and yet the government has fought hard to establish such markets for Ugandan made products.
The minister added that Pakistani investors are among the few people manufacturing products that are finding their way to such markets.
Foreign Affairs minister Gen Jeje Odongo, who represented the Vice President, Ms Jessica Alupo, thanked the Pakistani government for the warm relations and the constructive cooperation in different sectors.
He noted that a number of Ugandan military officers have undergone training in Pakistan and both countries have fostered collaborations in international organisations such as the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC), the United Nations (UN), and the None Aligned Movement (NAM), which have contributed to the growth of trade, industry and entrepreneurship in both countries.
“It will interest you to know that quite a number of Ugandan military officers did their military training in Pakistan. The collaborations at the OIC, UN, and NAM, have strengthened our ties and contributed to the rise in trade industry and entrepreneurship and it has fostered a spirit of unity and cooperation between Ugandan and Pakistani businessmen,” he said.
Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, the chairman of Pakistani Association of Uganda, thanked the close to 1,600 Pakistanis living in Uganda and who attended the occasion at Kampala Parents School for organising and gracing the event.
He told them to continue extending their Cooperate Social Responsibility activities to different parts of the country, saying activities such as providing clean borehole water, health camps and other charitable activities, will strengthen ties between the two countries.
