President Museveni officially opened the Uganda Trade Hub on Sunday, known as Uganda Connect, in Belgrade, Serbia.
The hub aims to strengthen bilateral relations between Uganda and Serbia while also paving the way for Ugandan goods and services in the Balkans region.
President Museveni, who is in Serbia for a two-day official visit, thanked his host, President Aleksandar Vucic, and his government for providing Uganda with the opportunity to promote its exports in the European country.
“There’s some amount of coffee drinking in Serbia and in this part of the world; Russia and other places, so we want to promote our coffee to come here processed. They have agreed to buy our processed coffee,” President Museveni said.
“I want to inform you that, as Uganda, we have started to open doors for our exports. Unlike some Western powers who want to buy our raw materials, Serbia has allowed it, and they are ready to buy our processed goods such as coffee, clothes, food, and leather, among others,” he added.
President Museveni also stated that the hub will be very important in promoting Uganda’s exports because it will be used to create a contact point “from where you can get everything you need and all the linkages.” The hub simplifies the address for anyone looking to buy something from Uganda.”
He thanked the Ugandan people, the Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) team led by Mr. Odrek Rwabwogo, and other stakeholders for their contributions in enabling Uganda to reach this milestone of promoting its agricultural products around the world.
“Thank you so much. This milestone can also help us spread our wings to other parts of the world. We should utilise this chance because we will be able to get 40 USD from a kilogramme of processed coffee. A kilogramme of unprocessed coffee is sold for only $2.5 (about Shs9,000), do you see how we have been making losses? This is the fight I’m in now,” President Museveni said.
He also commended Uganda’s trade representative in Serbia, Mr. Bratislav Stoiljkovic, for working hard to open a new trade and investment bridge between the two countries.