BACKGROUND
Background of the PIRT
PIRT PHASES
Each PIRT phase lasts two years
Achieviements
Notable PIRT achievements over the years
PIRT Background
The Presidential Investors’ Round Table (PIRT), which is chaired by H.E the President, is a high level forum that brings together a select group of both foreign and local investors to advise Government on how to improve the investment climate in the country.
The PIRT process and engagement, which is coordinated by the Rt Honourable Prime Minister in collaboration with UIA, has continued to grow and develop since its launch in 2004.
The Presidential Investors Round Table is used as a vehicle for Public Private Dialogue. It acts a business – government coordination mechanism. The work of PIRT also helps development partners especially World Bank`s private sector development and investment climate programmes.
PIRT`s are also undertaken in various African Countries including; Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Senegal and Tanzania.
PIRT Phases
Each PIRT phase runs for a period of two years with a focus on select thematic areas.
The current phase focuses on:-
- Tourism
- Oil and Gas
- Mineral Value Addition
- Transport and Logistics
- Agriculture Value Addition
- Uganda`s Competitiveness and Ease of doing Business
This phase focused on:-
- Tourism
- Energy and Petroleum (Oil and Gas),
- Minerals and Mineral Beneficiation,
- Uganda`s Competitiveness and Ease of doing Business
This phase focused on:-
- Oil and Gas
- Agriculture Development
- Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
This phase focused on:-
- E-Government
- Creative Industry
- Transport and Logistics
- Petroleum (Oil and Gas)
- Competitiveness in Doing Business
- Agricultural Production & Value Addition
This phase focused on:-
- Tourism
- Business Climate
- Mining and Petroleum
- ICT / Business Processing Outsourcing
- Agriculture (Forestry, Biotechnology & Agro processing)
This phase focused on:-
- Education
- Agribusiness
- Infrastructure and the Regulatory Environment.
- Information and Communications Technology.
PIRT Achievements
Some of the remarkable policy outcomes from the various PIRT’s
Transport & logistics
- Investment in a wide gauge railway network
- Revision of exclusive rights agreements in the air service industry
Agriculture & Agri-business
- Increase of levy in export of raw hides and skins
- Putting in place the agricultural loan guarantee scheme in commercial banks
- Re-capitalization of Uganda Development Bank
- Extension of support to seed producers (Agro-Genetic Technology Ltd and Victoria Seeds Ltd)
- Enactment of the Plant Protection and Variety Act
- Establishment of the Phosphate multi product development project in Sukuru – Tororo
- Establishment of a high quality laboratory with seed testing technology at Namalere
- Elevating Kituuza into a fully-fledged National Coffee Research Institute
- Kituuza in Mukono has been elevated to a fully-fledged National Coffee Research Institute (NaCORI) and this has greatly enhanced the research capacity in the coffee industry.
- Government has established a high quality laboratory with seed testing technology at Namalere. This facility will facilitate identification of fake inferior seeds.
- The Plant and Seed Act 2006 has been operationalized, initially, by constituting the National Seed Board. The National Variety Release Committee and the National Seed Certification Services Unit have been established and are functional.
Petroleum, Oil & Gas
- Another round of licensing was opened
- Establishment of the Uganda Petroleum Institute Kigumba
- Establishment of the Petroleum Regulatory Authority
- Enactment of the Petroleum laws and drafting of the Petroleum regulations.
- Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development signed an MOU on the commercialization plan with licensed Oil companies.
- A lead Investor to develop the oil refinery was selected – RT Global Resources Consortium
- EAC partner states are working on a feasibility study to assess the most economic route for the crude oil export pipeline.
- Development of the TC 16 standards for the oil and gas sector. 30 standards out of which 20 standards have been approved by the National Council for Standards; these standards cover petroleum exploration, development, production, refining and transportation.
Information Communication Technology
- Enactment of the Cyber Laws of Uganda
- The Uganda ICT Association was formed
- Creation of the Intellectual Property special units in police
- Operationalization of the National Information Technology Authority of Uganda (NITA-U)
- Uganda secured its own national Internet Protocol address infrastructure
- Liberalization of the Pension sector
- Liberalization of the Pension sector
Health
- Decongestion of Mulago Hospital
Regulatory Framework
- Computerization of the Land Registry
- Liberalization of the Pension sector
- Creation of the Credit Reference Burea
- Autonomy of the Uganda Registration Services Bureau was realized
- A study to establish the infrastructure fund was undertaken
- Establishment of the One Stop Centre at Uganda Investment Authority
- Formation of a PIRT Cabinet Implementation Committee chaired by The Rt. Hon Prime Minister.
- Enactment of several commercial laws i.e company law, Free Zones Law, Capital Markets law, Insolvency Act, Trade Marks Act, Partnership Act
- Construction of the Kampala Industrial and Business Park in Namanve
- The Ministry of Public Service issued performance contracts to Top Level Management in Ministries
Mining and Value Addition
- Government revised the Extraction Industry Tax regime. The approved tax amendments were pronounced in the 2015/16 Budget
- Uganda Investment Authority is ready to allocate up to 100 acres of land to investors in the mining value addition sector for investment purposes in different parts of the country.