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Interview: Great Potential for Uganda-China Economic Cooperation, Trade
There are many fields that Uganda and China can cooperate, especially in coffee production and trade, Ugandan Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Gerald Ssendaula said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
Uganda is the fifth largest coffee producer in the world and its coffee sector earns almost 60 percent of the country's total foreign exchange revenue.
President Yoweri Museveni once said that China has a population of 1.2 billion. If each of them drinks a cup of Uganda's coffee in a month, his country's economy will be boosted greatly.
A month ago, Uganda Bancafe Company signed a contract with a Chinese company to set up a coffee shop in Beijing. Both sides agreed that if initial cooperation is successful, they will set up joint-ventures to undertake both coffee production and processing in Uganda.
"It is a good beginning," said Ssendaula. "If Uganda's coffee can export to China in quantity, we will have more foreign exchange earnings to import China's products."
The minister noted that the volume of bilateral trade now amounts to only 10 million U.S. dollars, which is a small amount and leaves much room for the two countries to improve.
Besides the coffee industry, there are many other fields in which Uganda and China can cooperate, such as agriculture, mining, manufacturing, infrastructure, tourism and so on, the minister said.
"China's technology in some fields is suitable for Uganda's conditions, for instance, its agriculture machinery can serve very well Uganda's agriculture sector," said Ssendaula, adding that medium and small-sized tractors made in China can also be used here for land cultivation and transportation.
Agriculture is the mainstay of Uganda's economy, which contributes 45 percent of the country's gross domestic product and 80 percent of its export revenue.
However, the minister revealed that only 8 million out of 40 million hectares of the arable land in the country have been cultivated so far.
"If China can help us cultivate 20 million hectares of the arable land, Uganda's economy would stride forward by big steps," Ssendaula said.
On foreign investment in his country, Ssendaula said that Uganda is indeed a promising country to attract more investors who target Africa as their investment location.
Ssendaula noted that Uganda which is in the region of East Africa has become a bridge linking with Central Africa, saying that in this region, there are some of Africa's most economically stable and important countries.
This location, at the heart of sub-Saharan Africa, gives Uganda commanding importance as a base for regional trade and investment, the minister said.
After years of economic reform, the country has achieved macro-economic stability characterized by low inflation, stable exchange rates and consistently high economic growth. Uganda currently ranks as the fastest growing economy in sub-Saharan Africa.
Official statistics show that since 1991 nearly 2,000 enterprises have committed over 2 billion U.S. dollars in actual investment in Uganda's agro-processing, manufacturing, energy, tourism, fisheries and many others.
"In recent years, more and more Chinese entrepreneurs have come to invest in Uganda, and this shows that more Chinese are now interested in our country," said Ssendaula.
SSendaula said that the forthcoming China-Africa cooperation forum clearly indicates that China attaches great importance to developing its economic relations and trade with African countries.
The minister expressed the hope that more Chinese entrepreneurs are welcome to Uganda for investment.
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