The Director General of Uganda Investment Authority, Robert Mukiza, has emphatically stated that all efforts shall be made to support investors in Uganda.
In an interview with the New Vision newspaper, Mukiza said an enabling environment is in place and being improved to boost investment in the country.
“The right policies have been put in place, including creating a one-stop centre for investors. We shall deal decisively with people who frustrate investors for personal gain and selfish interests”, he said.
Mukiza was commenting on President Yoweri Museveni’s New Year’s national address in which he highlighted indsutrialisation, poverty eradication and wealth creation as some of the key priorities of the government.
To sustain economic growth and transformation, the President said Uganda’s industrialization agenda will stay on course, warning anyone who frustrates investors.
The Director General said the future of Uganda’s economy lay in industrialization, which is why industrial parks are being setup in the regions.
According to Mukiza, creating 829,668 jobs from about 8,000 industries gives the confidence that the future of industrialization is promising if we took collective measures to attract more investors, especially in agro-processing and manufacturing sectors.
The Director General said in the pharmaceutical sector, for example, Uganda imports a lot of drugs (and exports jobs) which could be save by setting up more pharmaceutical factories in the country.
Mukiza appealed to more Ugandans to embrace commercial farming in order to provide much needed raw materials for agro-processing industries.
“We cannot expect the public service to create more jobs yet its capacity is only 480,000. My appeal is to all stakeholders in the industrial sector to do more in 2024 and we create more industries and jobs by attracting more investors, both domestic and foreign”, Mukiza said.
Mukiza said although there are still challenges to deal with, the strategy of more industrial parks and job creation will continue to take off.
***