President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Sunday evening officially closed the two-day Canada NRM Chapter Symposium 2023, with a call on the Canadians to invest in Uganda.
Speaking to over 350 Ugandans living in Canada at Woodbine Hotel in Toronto via zoom, President Museveni said his government was ready to receive the interested Canadians for viable investments in Uganda.
“The Canadian investors who are willing to add value to our products are welcome to Uganda”, the President said during a closing ceremony also attended by some special invited Canadian investors and business individuals.
The President who is also the NRM National Chairman took his audience through a process that has seen the government transiting from a small economy to a more progressive status with reasonable exports that earn the country huge foreign exchanges.
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He said by 1962, Uganda was basically surviving on cotton, coffee, copper (3Cs) tobacco, tea and tourism (3Ts) but by the time NRM took power in 1986, the past regimes had failed to sustain the trend. Museveni said NRM has since prioritized the recovery and expansion process of the economy with even new products that were not formerly considered to be of any economic value now largely contributing to the country’s economy.
He gave an example of Maize that was formerly grown as a food crop with about 500,000 kgs produced annually and importing maize from neighboring Kenya, adding that we now have 5bn Kgs exported annually and maize has since turned into both a food and cash crop. He also added that Uganda was now the leading producer of milk on the African continent among many others.
Speaking to a visibly excited audience that also had some ‘bazzukkulu’ working and studying in Canada, the President reiterated the need by the NRM govt to prioritize ‘value addition’ to the whole spectrum of the existing raw materials in Uganda. He said the interested Canadian investors can also invest in other service sectors like tourism, hotels and ICT among others.
Museveni further said, the NRM government efforts had yielded results with now 61% of the population living under the money economy and only 39% still working for only their stomachs (Ekida kyonka).
TOP DIASPORA MOBILISER ASIIMWE DICKON SPEAKS OUT
Speaking to reporters, Dickson Asiimwe an NRM renowned Mobiliser and MK Movement supporter said the NRM government under President Museveni has managed to sail Uganda through the most violent and turbulent storms in our history. Through this time, NRM has been tried, tested and found worthy of continued leadership of this country, adding that that’s why he supports Gen.Muhoozi Kainerugaba to be the next President when the current leader decides to retire.
‘’We believe Gen.Muhoozi will consolidate NRM achievement and h will be able to continue expanding investment and increase economic growth, incorporate peasants and the rural sector into the development process, Redress the inequalities in incomes and opportunities, Bridge the regional economic gaps and preserve political power’’, said Asimmwe, who is known for mobilizing for NRM and Gen.Muhoozi in the entire Diaspora.
Speaking at the same event, the leader of delegation, third Deputy Prime Minister and Minister without portfolio Rukia Isanga Nakadama said the Ugandan emigrants were formerly looked down upon as desperate casual workers (nkuba-kyeyo) but the NRM govt holds them in high regard due to their contributions to poverty eradication in Uganda. She commended them for contributing to the national development through Foreign Direct Investments, remittances, promotion of trade, public diplomacy and skills transfer among others.
Nakadama added that she will continue encouraging Ugandans abroad to embrace dialogue and unity in order to build a robust diaspora community that can continuously contribute towards Uganda’s economy. She reminded her audience that NRM was the only political organization that can be trusted with the sacred responsibility of securing Uganda’s future.
Speaking on behalf of the diaspora community, the chairperson of the Canada NRM Chapter Fred Kinene commended the President for the support towards the symposium. Kinene said this was the second annual event and requested the head of state to consider visiting them in Canada. The Senior Presidential Advisor on Diaspora Affairs Amb. Abby Walusimbi said his office would continue coordinating Ugandans outside their country to invest back home. Walusimbi said similar meetings were held in South Africa before and would spread to other countries as well. He commended the President for offering land for a diaspora Industrial park in Uganda.
The closing ceremony was also addressed by the High Commissioner to Canada Amb. Joy Ruth Acen and attended by the Minister for Presidency Milly Babalanda, the NRM Deputy National Treasurer Jacqueline Kyatuhairwe and the Senior Presidential Advisor Florence Mutyabule among others. The two day symposium ended with the Deputy Premier leading the rest to a dancing floor before being hosted to a Ugandan traditional meal.
