KABALE– The state Minister for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Honorable David Bahati has revealed that Uganda imports a lot of goods from foreign countries compared to its exports.
Bahati’s statement was contained in his festive seasonal message delivered recently while he spoke to radio stations in Kabale district.
The minister said that Uganda currently earns five billion from its exports and seven billion dollars from goods imported outside the country.
He assured Ugandans that when more industries are built, a lot of goods will be manufactured within Uganda and citizens will also get jobs stressing that Uganda’s 2022-year strategy is focusing on export promotion.
Bahati added that the government is considering a move to build a sub electricity power station supply in Kigezi sub region in order to solve the problem of power black outs to enable constant power supply and establishment of factories in the region.
The minister also revealed that research made by the National Bureau of statistics indicates that poverty has increased to its peak in Kigezi sub region ever since the closure of Uganda- Rwanda border and outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.
He noted that 39% of families in Uganda grow food crops but save little for sustainability and that government had introduced the Parish Development model among other interventions to fight poverty and cause economic recovery of the economy.
The Parish Development Model is a government run microfinance initiative that seeks to create a Shs400 billion revolving fund to help local farmers and entrepreneurs access credit.
The government has a proposal to inject UGX 100 million ($ 28,298) per Parish per year in the Parish Development Model fund. The PDM is among the many programs that the Government has designed to achieve the 3rd National Development Plan (2020/21 to 2024 / 25) whose goal is to increase household incomes and improve the quality of life of Ugandans.
The Parish Development Model (PDM) is a new strategy government plans to use for organizing and delivering public and private sector interventions for wealth creation and employment generation at the parish level as the lowest economic planning unit.
Bahati said that with the government considering allocating money for the parish development model, poverty will be eradicated in the Kigezi sub region.
He implored the public to keep responsibility for their lives amidst festival season, arguing them to keep observing standard operating procedures that were set by the ministry of health by washing hands, wearing masks, sanitizing and keeping social distance to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
Currently, the country has registered a hundred percent increase in COVID-19 cases in the last week. According to test results released on Thursday (yesterday), the country recorded 710 new cases at a test positivity rate of 10.1%.
Meanwhile President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni next year 2022 is expected to launch a parish development model program in the entire country.
