KAMPALA – Government has been cautioned against signing international trade and bilateral agreements without scrutinizing their impact on indigenous business firms.

Kyambogo University senior lecturer, Milton Ayoki, said trade agreements seek to favour foreign business firms or multinationals.

He said government should only sign agreements as long as it takes interest on the survival of local business firms.

Ayoki pointed out that 50 per cent of local enterprises can hardly survive their fifth birthday due to competition driven by foreign firms.

He was speaking during an interface meeting between policy makers, civil society organizations, MPs and members of the private sector at Golf Course Hotel in Kampala.

The interface meeting organized by Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information Negotiations Institute (SEATINI) was aimed at addressing the development challenges of Uganda in the context of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), Common Market for Eastern and Southern African (COMESA), East African Community (EAC), South African Development Community Tripartite and other bilateral trade agreements.

Responding to the senior lecturer’s concern, Dr. Abubaker Moki – an official from the Cabinet secretariat and Office of the President – pointed out that government cannot cancel trade and bilateral agreements it has signed.

“Cabinet can’t unpack signed agreements; instead we engage and negotiate – that’s where we can influence.”

To increase access and understanding of signed agreements which come in the form of multinational, continental, regional and bilateral, the government probes to find out who are the likely beneficiaries, explained Moki.

“Once the agreements have been signed, we go ahead to interrogate who the beneficiaries are.”

Business firms were pushed to observe international standards which require importation and exportation of quality products.

“Substandard goods are critical. Without quality standards, we can’t succeed,” said the official.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Nathan Irumba pointed out that there is need to revisit government’s policy on procurement as it favours foreign firms.

“We are worried of government’s procurement policy. What chances are there for Ugandan firms to win a contract apart from foreign companies?”

On promotion of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Buikwe Woman MP Dorothy Mpiima (pictured below) rapped government of undermining the latter in preference to foreign companies.

She said Nytil – a textile industry – laid off 400 women who are now jobless and yet government continues to buy uniform for Police and the Army from China and India.

Nwoya MP Lilly Adong called on SMEs to improve on the quality of their products to attract local buyers or else consumers will continue to eye foreign products.

Source: New Vision

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