Members of Parliament on the Finance Committee on Wednesday praised the Uganda Investment Authority for the excellent performance and making Uganda number one investment destination in the region.
The Finance Committee Chairman, Hon. Amos Kakunda, his Deputy Hon. Jane Pacutho Avur and the members of the committee on Wednesday met the Minister of Investment and Privatization Hon. Evelyn Anite and UIA officials led by the Director General, Robert Mukiza.
The Committee noted that the UIA is on course in the execution of its mandate to promote, attract and retain value-adding domestic and foreign direct investments through robust marketing and investor-centric policies and services.
“The UIA commitment in the development of Industrial Parks has tremendously supported he industrialization agenda, which is crucial for wealth and jobs creation,” said Hon. Kakunda.
The Otuke County Member of Parliament, Hon. Paul Omara appealed for more financial support to the UIA in order for the agency to continue with the good.
“We are beginning to see the results of the good work the UIA is doing: the best the Committee can is to ensure the required allocation of resources to agency,” said Omara.
The UIA registered significant achievements in the last 2 years which include increasing number of licensed projects by 58.7% from 395 projects in FY 2020/21 to 627 projects during FY 2021/22. Similarly, the value of planned investments registered 182.5% increase from $ 1.86 Billion in 2020/21 to $ 5.27 Billion during the FY 2021/22.
In the Performance ranking for government agencies of September 2022 UIA scored 83.4 among the best performers.
Also, in the first quarter of the Financial Year 2022/2023, Ugandan owned licensed investment projects valued at USD 3.099 billion compared to USD 485.7 million licensed during the same period of the First Quarter, Financial Year 2021/2022. This was mainly attributed to enhanced UIA’s efficiency, increased investment promotion programs which increased visibility to Ugandan investors.
The UIA has mobilized approximately 12.5 Square miles of land from Local Governments for Industrial Park development free of charge.
UIA has also been recognised at international level. Notable among the recognitions include; the November 2023, Go Global awards in Rhodes Island USA for the greatest investment catalyst in the world, September 2023, Africa risk reward index 2023, the Oxford Economics recognised Uganda as the most attractive economy to invest in within the East African community(EAC) and 3rd Most rewarding country to invest in within Africa among others.