The European Union and the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) had jointly launched the Sustainable Business for Uganda (SB4U), a trade improvement initiative in 2019. The implementation was disrupted due to COVID-19 outbreak. The initiative is now revived with the holding of the third SB4U Board Meeting in Kampala, recently along with the launch of the Technical Working Groups as well as the Work Readiness Initiative for graduates.
The objective of the platform is to enable Uganda to export to Europe free of tariffs and quotas under the existing trade initiatives, like “Everything but Arms (EBA)”. Speaking about the initiative, The EU Head of Delegation to Uganda Ambassador Attilio Pacifici said that,there was a lack of awareness about the market needs of Europe that can be fulfilled by Uganda.He was positive that by creating adequate awareness, Uganda’s export earnings can be raised from the 500 million US Dollars in 2020 to beyond 1 billion US Dollars, He informed that the EU has set aside 170 million Euros for the next four years to facilitate sustainable investment, economic enablers and connectivity, skilling and decent jobs. The funds are expected to help Uganda’s business community to understand the market needs of the EU like quality, quantity, stability in supply and so on.
The Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and the East African Community also offers Ugandans the opportunity to export to the EU under favourable terms. EPA could not kick start due to concerns about the different clauses in the agreement among the countries in the region.
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