Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni: «A record year in investments.»

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afrol News, 6 June - As Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni this week opened the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) in London, he revealed that Uganda is successful in attracting major investments ahead of the 2007 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in Kampala in November. Already, the hotel sector and the IT sector had gained tremendously, Mr Museveni said.

President Museveni and the Prime Minister of Malta, Lawrence Gonzi on Monday launched the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) in London. The two were chosen to head the inauguration ceremony as Malta hosted the last session and Uganda will host the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

President Museveni revealed that in anticipation of the Commonwealth summit and the Commonwealth Business Forum in Kampala, there is already much stimulation in the hotel and construction sector. "Now we have more rooms. CBF has helped us build room capacity."

Malta's Prime Minister, Mr Gonzi who hosted the 2005 CBF said that the CBF "is the best way to attract investment. The result of CBF 2005 in Malta was a record year in investment for the following 48 months," he added, clearly inspiring the Ugandan leader.

In his speech, President Museveni stressed on the role of the business community in creating wealth to enable millions of Commonwealth citizens trade their way out of poverty. The private and public sectors in Uganda were collaborating in a joint search for fast-track solutions, under the aegis of the Commonwealth, he said.

Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa added on his President's list of investments successes: "Examples of successful initiatives to date are an IT park planned for Entebbe, near our capital Kampala. It will act as an IT centre for East Africa, creating jobs and, we hope, many new opportunities - locally and internationally. In the banking sector", he explained, "innovations like ATM cash machines will be added to post offices across Uganda, introducing more modern and time-saving banking practices."

Mohan Kaul, Director General of the Commonwealth Business Council, added that "objectives include building bilateral trade between Commonwealth countries, especially within Africa - by simplifying banking procedures, reducing the 'digital divide', and minimising bureaucratic obstacles."

"Just as the potential of the mobile phone has been seized on in Africa and successfully transformed large areas of the informal private sector, so the CBC's focus is on finding other 'keys' to unlock more economic potential, with low-cost, high impact ideas," Mr Kaul explained.

President Museveni also found ways to compliment the Commonwealth. "I know there are many ways to achieve transformation of our societies, but I believe that the Commonwealth way is the best way to move together. This is because the Commonwealth is multi-racial, multi-ethnic, covers a wider radius of the world, is spread over many continents - and yet we speak the same language and can understand one another without the need for a translator," the Ugandan leader said.

In November, Uganda for the first time will host a Commonwealth summit, which is seen as a major logistic operation. But the country is said to be on course with preparations. In April, a Commonwealth delegation was in Kampala to inspect the summit infrastructure and concluded that "Uganda is 75 percent ready." By November, "we are confident they will be ready," the delegation added.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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