INFRASTUCTURE IS THE BIGGEST NTB IN THE EAC REGION

The Secretary General of the East African Community Amb Dr. Richard Sezibera has said in order to compete in the global market with goods from countries such as China and Ethiopia, the EAC region need to cut down energy and transport costs.

Speaking at the Uganda Manufacturing Association Luncheon this afternoon,  Amb. Sezibera noted that manufacturing offers a wide range of opportunities in the EAC Partner States and the Heads of States across the region have always expressed commitment to the development of the sector in the micro, small and medium sized enterprises.

The EAC Chief informed the manufacturers that according to the EAC Facts and Figures 2012, the share of the manufacturing sector to GDP registered marginal changes in 2011. Burundi registered the highest share of 13.4 percent up from 12.8 the previous year followed by Tanzania 9.3 percent up from 9.0 previous year.

The Secretary General added that Uganda registered 8.5 percent up from 7.6 in 2010, and Rwanda 6.6 percent down from 7.0 in 2010 while Kenya registered with 9.4 down from 9.9 in 2010.

Amb. Sezibera reiterated that for manufacturing sector to prosper there was need for the stakeholders including the government and private sector players to work on ways to give the domestic industrial sector a new lease of life.

He called u[pon local manufacturers to take advantage of the several opportunities popping up as EAC integrates deeper especially in areas that include the pharmaceuticals, beverage production, vehicle spare-parts production and assembling among others.

‘’I am happy to report that several projects aimed at building a reliable transport and power supply capacity across the region are currently underway’’. ‘’ I am also glad to inform you that the EAC has a Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan of Action,2012-2016 which guides the Partner States towards evolving an efficient and effective pharmaceutical manufacturing industry’’.

The Secretary General acknowledged the challenges pertaining to the manufacturing sector and called for more efforts to overcome them. He noted the continued growth of counterfeits that erode investor earnings while chipping away at factory jobs as companies scale down operations from market share lost to the illegal goods.

Amb. Sezibera informed his audience that EAC Partner states were expected to come up with strategies for formalizing the inter-agency approach at the EAC regional level in order to establish a legal and regulatory framework for the protection of Intellectual Property and the elimination of counterfeit products.

In attendance were Uganda’s State Minister for Trade and Cooperative Hon. David Wakikona, Members of Diplomatic Corps, Members of Uganda Manufacturing Association, Members of Parliament and the Media.