The 28th Uganda International Trade Fair opens today, three years since the Uganda Manufactures Association, UMA, last held its annual show.
The show is expected to host about 1,000 exhibitors, with 920 local and international confirmed participants. Of these, 120 are foreign exhibitors. The foreign exhibitors confirmed are from Bahrain, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, and Nigeria.
Others are from Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, South Korea, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom.
The eight-day show, running under the theme “Harnessing economic recovery through local sourcing and deepening value chain integration,” comes as businesses and the economy as a whole try to recover from a devastating COVID-19 pandemic. The fair also comes as Uganda and other countries are looking for ways of fitting into and taking advantage of the market opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area, or AfCFTA.
“The Uganda International Trade Fair is aimed at facilitating business-to-business linkages by bringing foreign manufacturers and local producers together,” says Daniel Birungi, the Executive Director at UMA.
The fair is also expected to attract several high-profile visitors from Uganda and other countries, with President Yoweri Museveni and Kenya President William Ruto confirmed to visit. The Ministry of Health has agreed with UMA that throughout the eight days, standard operating procedures will be followed to prevent any possible spread of Ebola.
Apart from the manufacturing sector expanding, there are also new industries that have sprung up, including electric mobility, which will be represented by manufacturers of electric vehicles and bikes.
There will also be a focus on agriculture, in line with the National Development Plan of promoting agro-industry, on top of the traditionally known industries that feature at the shows. Still, it will also have demonstrations of processing like iron ore to steel.