Trade ministry, CEO Forum seek joint action to cut cost of doing business

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives and the Presidential CEO Forum have agreed to strengthen collaboration to address key challenges affecting manufacturers and investors as Uganda pursues its target of growing the economy to $500 billion by 2040 under the government’s Tenfold Growth Strategy.

During a meeting held on July 7, Trade Minister Sanjay Tanna and State Minister for Trade Gen Wilson Mbadi met the board of the Presidential CEO Forum, led by its chairman Emmanuel Katongole, to discuss policy and regulatory reforms aimed at improving the business environment.

The forum urged the ministry to establish a closer working relationship to tackle bottlenecks that continue to increase the cost of production and constrain industrial growth.

Katongole said government and the private sector needed a coordinated approach to unlock Uganda’s economic potential through agriculture-led industrialisation and value addition.

Among the issues raised by the forum were the increasing presence of substandard products on the market, delays in product certification by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), fragmented supply chains, limited access to affordable financing and inadequate value addition.

“Most of the products leave the country with limited or no processing and therefore we end up exporting jobs and income. Government and the private sector cannot independently solve all the bottlenecks to Uganda’s growth. We need a coordinated execution framework founded on trust, evidence and continuous dialogue,” Katongole said.

Tanna said the government’s Tenfold Growth Strategy was achievable because substantial investments had already been made in critical infrastructure, including roads, electricity, water and national security.

He urged members of the Presidential CEO Forum to use their platform to provide strategic guidance to investors and support implementation of government programmes.

“We need to prioritise skilling Ugandans. Many people have academic qualifications but lack the practical skills required by industry,” Tanna said.

The minister also proposed the development of a digital database of key stakeholders, including industries, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and traders, saying it would improve government planning and policy implementation.

The meeting forms part of ongoing efforts by government and the private sector to deepen collaboration in addressing structural constraints to investment, industrialisation and export growth.