Government to help Ugandan SMEs target UAE market

Uganda's Ambassador to the UAE, Zaake W. Kibedi, said the decision will improve Uganda's foreign exchange from the UAE at the end of a four-day, second edition Uganda-UAE Business Forum held at Speke Resort Munyonyo on Friday evening.

” We are working on a proposal to see how Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) can be supported to operate in the UAE. The big enterprises can find their way out. And with the offer of an office in UAE, we should give SMES information in good time, so that they can organise themselves,” Kibedi said.

He stated that responsible ministries and government entities from both Uganda and the UAE would soon meet within the Ministries of Foreign Affairs to discuss how SMEs may be assisted in entering the lucrative market of the United Arab Emirates.

Kibedi stated that Uganda's Foreign Direct Investment from the UAE has increased from $300 million in 2018 to $3 billion in 2019.

He also enticed the UEA business community to come and invest in Uganda, claiming that there are tremendous investment potential in tourism, oil and gas, manufacturing, infrastructure and public transportation, health and education, energy and minerals, commercial agriculture, and value-addition, among other areas.

“We had a trip to the oil field in Hoima and were told that an investment opportunity worth $8b exists there. We can engage the Ministry of Energy and Uganda oil companies and see how this opportunity can be utilised,” Kibedi said.

Vincent W. Bagiire, the Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary who officiated at the closing of the Business Forum announced that the undersecretary of the AbuDhabi Department of Economic Development, H.E Rashid Abdulkarim Al Blooshi had offered an office to Uganda Investment Authority, to utilise it as a base for aggressively marketing Uganda in Arab countries.

“He challenged us that Uganda is endowed with so many resources and wondered why we were not aggressively promoting our country. He offered Uganda Investment Authority an office to promote the country aggressively. We shall take it and I want to assure you that we will utilise it, ” Bagiire said.

He added, “We look forward to increasing foreign direct inflow into our country through business partnership exports, in the UAE and Middle East.”

Bagiiire, however, challenged exporters from Uganda to stick to quality standards and improve packaging, if they are to compete favourably in the export markets.

Some of Uganda’s Exports to the UAE include coffee, agricultural produce, and meat products, precious minerals, and labour.

The Undersecretary of the AbuDhabi Department of Economic Development, H.E Rashid Abdulkarim Al Blooshis said he would continue to encourage business groups to invest in both Uganda and the UAE.

About 23 companies from UAE participated in the second edition of the Business Forum.The 3rd edition of Uganda-UAE Business Forum will take place in UAE in October, 2024.