A group photo of the participants at the engagement held in Kampala on 20th July, 2022
UFZA organized a sensitization workshop for the Cocoa, Coffee, Dairy, and Leather sectors in Uganda on 28th July 2022. Participants were sensitized about the benefits and opportunities in Free Zones. They were encouraged to leverage the Free Zones incentives and undertake value addition so as to become more competitive in the global markets. These target sectors are critical for Uganda’s exports, but the products thereof have been largely exported in raw form.
The Executive Director at UFZA, Mr. Hez Kimoomi Alinda said “By investing in Free Zones, manufacturers will be able to add value hence, export commodities that are of high standards to compete on the global stage”. There has been a challenge of limited value addition, packaging, branding and marketing of majority of Uganda’s goods that are exported hampering the country’s exploits in the world markets.
The farmers and entrepreneurs were also informed about the Authority’s facilitative role through the Business Development and Investor support function. There is a team that handholds all the interested parties throughout the application and licensing process. They further offer aftercare services to the licensed Free Zones regarding all matters that relate to the operations of the Free Zones, to ensure seamless operations.
Mr. Alinda, further encouraged the business community to take advantage of the Entebbe International Airport Free Zone for storage of their produce and processing for onward export through the airport.