East African Community (EAC) Secretariat is in the final stages of completing a regional industrialization policy which is to among others promote regional industries.
EAC is in the process of formulating its Industrialization policy and strategy, which is expected to provide a detailed regional framework for cooperation in the field of Industrial and small and medium enterprises (SME) development," said the EAC Head of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Richard Owora.
He revealed that the regional industries whose economic benefits extend beyond national boundaries that have been identified include: pharmaceutical, automotive, agricultural machinery and tools, basic metal, petrochemicals, Information Communication Technology (ICT) and computer and SME development among others.
"That is why the secretariat with support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) held a five-day experts meeting to review the draft EAC industrialization policy and strategy in Uganda. He said the discussions revolved around formulating policy inputs and recommendations from the stakeholders for the finalization of the policy and strategy, identification of priority regional industries to be promoted on comparative advantages, identification of policy interventions projects and programmes to be undertaken at national and regional levels and to update the draft final documents.
"The goal of cooperation in industrial development is to enable partner states to collectively and individually attain accelerated, harmonious, and balanced development, as envisioned in the EAC Treaty," he said adding that the draft policy and strategy has identified several industries, which will be promoted through collective community efforts, so as to realize economies of scale and attain international competitiveness.
Uganda's Director of Trade, Industry and Co-operative in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Co-operative, Mr Samuel Ssenkungu noted that industrialization and technological diffusion have both potential to make a sustainable contribution to economic growth and job creation in the region.
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