Uganda to host the 3rd China-Africa Industrial Cooperation Expo.

Patrick Jaramogi

Officials from the Chinese embassy and Uganda Investment Authrority adress the press on the upcoming China-Uganda industrial expo, on Wednesday.

Kampala, Uganda: Uganda will next week host the 3^rd China-Africa Expo next week, the Uganda Investment Authority has announced.

According to a joint communique released by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) in collaboration with China Africa Development Fund, Uganda Investment Authority, and Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the China-Uganda Industrial Capacity Cooperation Exposition will take place in Kampala next week, from the 23^rd -26^th July 2019, at UMA showgrounds Lugogo.

The Expo, the first in Uganda, will be the third in a series of China-Africa expos, with the first two having been held in Kenya and Ethiopia in November and December 2018 respectively. The expos are part of the “eight major initiatives” announced by President Xi Jinping at Summit for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in Beijing in September 2018.

During the summit attended by the majority of Africa’s Heads of State, President Xi announced that China would launch “eight major initiatives” together with Africa to draw a blueprint for the development of China-Africa relations in the new era, and build a platform for economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa.

Next week’s China-Uganda Expo will attract 43 enterprises from 12 provinces and cities of China seeking to explore investment opportunities in Uganda in a wide range of industries including engineering machinery, energy equipment, agricultural processing equipment, automobiles, among others.

Although Uganda opened diplomatic relations with China at independence in 1962, economic and trade ties had not been significant until the recent past. The NRM Government’s recent push for infrastructure development, coupled with a surge in China’s overseas development spending where Uganda has been a key beneficiary, has seen tens of Chinese companies flock into Uganda to tap into the new opportunities presented by Uganda’s resurgent construction and industrial sectors. Today, Chinese companies are heavily invested in the Ugandan economy, from construction and industry to manufacturing and trade.

Speaking at a press conference held at Kampala Serena Hotel on Wednesday, M/s Zhao Xinfen, the economic and commercial counselor at the Chinese embassy in Uganda said that hosting the China-Uganda industrial capacity cooperation exposition is a clear demonstration that the partnership between China and Uganda is moving towards a deeper and higher level.

Martin Muhangi, the Director for investment promotion at Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) said that with the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative – China’s flagship overseas development financing initiative, cooperation between China and Uganda will greatly assist the attainment of Uganda‘s economic development targets, and inject strong momentum in the quest to realize Uganda’s Vision 2040.

The expo comes weeks after President Museveni’s visit to China where he addressed the coordinators meeting for the implementation of the resolutions of the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit, signed a host of bilateral treaties between Uganda and China, and opened the first-ever China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in Changsha, Hunan Province in China.