“Our bilateral trade has increased to $94 million down from $71 million last year, we can bring this to figure to 500 million USD in a couple of years”, Turkish ambassador.
Hamza Kyeyune, Update: 20.05.2023
KAMPALA, Uganda. -Turkish ambassador to Uganda Mehmet Fatih Ak has said Trade and investment opportunities are abundant in Uganda in various sectors. He was hosting a Turkish trade delegation from Antalya Organized Industrial Zone (AOIZ), consisting of companies operating in the plastic, agriculture, food, construction-construction, machinery, among others, currently in the country exploring prospects of doing business with Uganda. The delegation headed by Hasanali Gönen, the vice chairman of AOIZ.
“I am happy with the Turkish business People’s growing interest year by year in the African Continent and Uganda in particular. Our total trade with the African continent reached 40 billion US Dollars in 2022. With Uganda, our bilateral trade has increased to $94 million down from $71 million last year. We can bring this to figure to 500 million USD in a couple of years. Turkish contractors have undertaken infrastructure projects in Africa, with a total value of 83.3 billion US Dollars so far,” the ambassador said.
Uganda exports to Türkiye a wide range of products including coffee, tea, vanilla, cocoa beans, processed fruits, fish, and handicrafts among others.
Uganda’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs (International Affairs) Okello Oryem told the Turkish investors who met him at his office that the government gives free land in industrial parks, fully serviced with electricity, water, tarmac roads, high-speed internet, and industrial waste treatment plants and tax holiday among other incentives. The delegation also held meetings with Uganda’s state minister for Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries, Hon Fredrick Bwino Kyakulaga and Hon Frederick Ngobi Gume, the state minister for Cooperatives in the Ugandan cabinet.
Türkiye’s presence in Uganda is growing with contractors carrying out major development initiatives in the public and private high-tech infrastructure. This year, Uganda government pitched Yapi Merkezi, a Turkish company to build a 273-kilometer (170-mile) section of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line expected to cost $2.2 billion.
According to the latest datasets from the World Bank, Uganda has one of the lowest crime rates and most stable inflation rate in East Africa – averaging 4.89%.
