Speaker Rebecca Kadaga has asked the Ministry of Finance to provide the Ministry of Trade with funds for a trade expo in Dubai due to take place in 2020.
Kadaga who Tuesday presided over the plenary of the 21st sitting of the first meeting of the 4th season of the 10th Parliament demanded an explanation from Bahati as to why Uganda is not going to participate in the trade expo mentioned above.
“Before we do anything honourable members I want to know why the government had failed to provide funding for preparations of the coming trade expo in 2020 in Dubai. Currently, Uganda’s stall is empty yet it’s in between that of the United Kingdom (UK) and the host United Arab Emirates (UAE) who have already worked on theirs,” she said.
Kadaga added that the government of UAE has already constructed all the stalls to be used in the expo. Uganda only needs to design her stall depending on cultural norms and beliefs. However the Ministry of Trade has not received any funds from Ministry of Finance.
She added that the Expo will provide an exceptional platform to showcase Uganda’s innovation and expertise in business and cultural pursuits.
“We need to be very excited to present Uganda to the world. This is the time Uganda would use to market herself in such international trade expos, Unfortunately, the responsible Ministry has not yet received these funds, can the Minister of Finance tell the house why?” Kadaga asked.
David Bahati, th junior finance minister promised the House that funds will be provided but also called upon other ministries to support the 2020 Dubai Expo.
“The issue of the 2020 expo is not about the ministries of Trade or Finance. This is about Uganda. If the trade ministry has no money in their budget, we shall seek a supplementary for them,” said Bahati.
190 countries are expected to participate in this first trade expo in Dubai.
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