SA, Uganda to take stock of economic relations

Thursday, January 25, 2018

South Africa and Uganda are expected to review achievements made since the establishment of a Joint Trade Committee (JTC) that was set up to strengthen bilateral economic relations.

Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies will host the second sitting of the JTC in Tshwane on Monday.

Established in November 2015, the JTC aims to strengthen bilateral economic relations between South Africa and the landlocked East African country.

“It was at the first sitting of the JTC where it was found that even though South Africa and Uganda enjoyed cordial trade relations, there existed certain areas that required improvement in order to conform to standards to enable for an increase in exports between ourselves,” said the Minister on Thursday. 

He said the two countries have since agreed on the importance of fast-tracking and implementing joint-projects under the JTC agreement. This will be achieved through sharing and exploration of new trade, investment and technical cooperation opportunities, as well as removing obstacles to equitable trade.

The Minister said it was due to a need to improving these areas that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between South African trade and investment facilitation institutions and their respective Ugandan counterparts in order to strengthen bilateral trade relations.

“This two-day programme will comprise of a review of interventions undertaken and progress reports from South African trade and investment facilitation institutions and their respective Ugandan counterparts. There will also be discussions surrounding activities of the Forum of South African Business in Uganda (FOSABU) and a Programme of Action for the Joint Ministerial Meeting.”

Investments by South African companies in Uganda will also form part of the discussions as this is a priority of the Department of Trade and Industry through its Trade Invest Africa division.

The JTC, which will conclude on Tuesday, will culminate in a ministerial meeting which will review and adopt the outcomes of the senior officials’ discussions. - SAnews.gov.za