Kampala, 5 May 2015
President Kagame today began his two day visit to Uganda by attending the 1st Regional Business Forum – a private dialogue dinner with Presidents Museveni and Kenyatta.
Held on the eve of the 10th Northern Corridor Integration Projects Summit, the Forum which brought together representatives from the private sector from Northern Corridor partner states aims at highlighting business opportunities in the region with emphasis on the Northern corridor and the need for public private partnership (PPP) in project implementation.
Following initial consultations and engagement, private sector members from the Northern Corridor partner states submitted a number of proposals and recommendations for possible investment through PPPs.
The proposals from the partner countries included; infrastructure, ICT and finance.
“This is an opportunity to work together and beyond to realise the objectives of the EAC which is integration. There has to be a sense of urgency with everything we do as a bloc and a region. There is enough political will we just have to leverage it and use it to get things done. Every time we meet for this kind of gathering, we repeat the same right things; this is the time to act – less talk and more work needs to be done.” President Kagame said.
“We are not short of any capital – whatever the private sector can do, the Government will create a conducive environment and leverage pension funds so as to take our economies to the next level,” added President Kenyatta.
“Private sector creates growth in a country. Their role in the region has to be given more attention and empowerment,” remarked President Museveni.
During the second day and last day of his visit, President Kagame will attend the 10th Northern Corridor Meeting hosted by President Museveni.
Held in Kigali, the 9th Northern Corridor Summit highlighted the progress made since the first summit including the one custom area, the ability for tourists to travel to Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda with one visa, the increased volume of calls across the region due to the establishment of the One Network Area as well as the progress in infrastructure and energy projects.