Tayebwa lauds China for boosting Uganda’s economy
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Thomas Tayebwa, leads a delegation from the People’s Republic of China in Parliament on September 23, 2023. PHOTO/DAVID LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- The two countries rooted for effective execution of projects for economic transformation
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Thomas Tayebwa, has commended the government of China for contributing to the development of Uganda.
Mr Tayebwa said the two countries have continued to enjoy and consolidate the good relations in diverse fields, including political, technical, investment, security, trade, tourism, social, cultural and scientific disciplines.
“Uganda and China enjoy strong, historical and excellent bilateral relations that have been upgraded to a comprehensive cooperative partnership. We should seek to optimise benefits from this mutual cooperation and partnership, including effective execution of projects that enhance Uganda’s economic transformation, development and prosperity,” Mr Tayebwa said.
He added: “China has been one of the leading countries offering technical assistance to Uganda. Uganda and China have in the past signed a number of Agreements in Economic and Technical Cooperation, in the areas of trade, health, industry, production.”
Mr Tayebwa was speaking during the visit of Mr Zhong Shan, a Member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and Chairman of the Financial and Economic Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and his delegation from China to the Parliament of Uganda yesterday.
NPC is the highest organ of state power of the People’s Republic of China.
During the meeting, Mr Tayebwa highlighted the contribution of China in Uganda, especially its support during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“China donated 50,000 testing kits and 600,000 doses of vaccines for Covid-19 when most of the world's major powers were not allowing exports from their countries,” he said.
Mr Tayebwa further revealed that China granted 98 of their tariff lines duty free and quota free market access to Ugandan and that Uganda has submitted a list of products that should benefit from the Chinese market like beef, pepper and aquatic products (fish and fish products).
The State Minister for Finance Planning and Economic Development, Mr Henry Musasizi, said China’s growth rate has an impact on Africa's economic growth rate.
“I want to thank you [China] for the contribution you have made to make Uganda's economy grow steadily. We have been working with China to achieve a number of projects, mainly in infrastructure, energy, oil and gas, and human capital development,” Mr Musasizi said.
He also revealed that Uganda has embarked on a 10-fold growth strategy to increase its GDP from $55 billion to $500 billion by 2039, adding that the move will be achieved through focus on agro-processing, tourism, minerals, oil and gas, science and innovations.
Mr Shan recommended that China-Uganda legislatures should promote the docking of the two countries' development strategies to deepen the exchanges and communications in politics, economics, culture, and civilisation. He also noted that legislators should develop strategies and strengthen their exchanges of experience in legislation so as to create a favourable legal environment for bilateral cooperation.
