The first contacts for a potential investor in Uganda are the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) and the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB). It is therefore critical that these institutions work closely together in order to serve investor better.
This observation was made during a courtesy visit between the two institutions in which the new Registrar General, Ms. Mercy Kainobwisho, paid her first official visit to UIA in this position.
According to the UIA Acting Director General, Mr. Lawrence Byensi, the partnership between UIA and URSB started way back in the year 2000 when UIA and Ministries, Departments and Agencies agreed to work together under the banner of “Team Uganda” to promote Uganda through a uniformed platform. URSB was one of the 22 institutions that formed that team.
URSB was also part of the first Agencies to open up office when the physical One Stop Business Center was established under the UIA. In 2014/15, when the OSC online E-biz platform was being established, URSB was among the first institutions prioritized to provide services through it.
“Our relationship has been established and developed over the years and we need to enhance this partnership for the good of our country,” noted Byensi.
In her remarks, Ms. Kainobwisho appreciated the role UIA is playing in attracting investors. “We are hopeful for a forward-looking mentality, we need to consolidate our efforts in order to work better, bigger and broader,” she said, adding that the two institutions need to cooperate more in order to have seamless journey for the investors.
The two institutions will continue their quest to achieve business process simplification and increased access of the public to government services both through their physical offices and online, and particularly when both institutions move into the Uganda Business Facilitation Center (UBFC) later on this year.
“The UBFC is as a result of a partnership between UIA, URSB and CMA. We will be happy to provide coordinated and timely services to our mutual clients under one roof,” Mr. Byensi added.
The UBFC is an under-one-roof mechanism for key business facilitators – Uganda Investment Authority, Uganda Registration Services Bureau and Capital Markets Authority.