As a way of further deepening the East African integration, Uganda is launching a National Policy to engage all segments of our population to ensure optimum benefi ts that continue to accrue from this process.

The National Policy on East African Community Integration (NPEACI) was developed to respond to the need to have a detailed articulation of the country’s EAC integration policy in a single document, in which priorities, objectives, targets, policies and linkages with other growth and development targets are clearly laid out and linked.

The development and launch of this policy is also borne out of the obvious fact that integration is too important to be left to a few sections of the population. Integration is a multifaceted process bringing together all of us in government and the non-state actors.

Indeed, the framers of the Treaty establishing the EAC were mindful of this reality. That is why Article 7 provides that “the principles that shall govern the practical achievement of the objectives of the community shall include people-centred and market-driven co operation”.

By launching this policy, therefore, we are, in a way, fulfi lling the requirements of this provision. The document with the vision, “A transformed Ugandan society from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country fully integrated within the East African Community”, will be launched by the Rt Hon Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda.

The ceremony will be attended by people in all walks of life from the public and private sector and the civil society. Besides helping to defi ne the roles of the various stakeholders in the implementation of the EAC agenda, this policy enables us as Uganda to identify our opportunities and articulate our interests and priorities as we move towards a federated state.

It clarifies the need for the Ugandan business community to sharpen their instincts in order to take advantage of the environment created to do business within a single EAC common market. The need for competitiveness, whose key elements, among others’ include quality of a product or service, cost of production, and uniqueness of products and/or services is critical for Uganda to share the benefi ts arising out of the EAC integration.

The details of the proposed policy measures that would improve competitiveness of Ugandan goods and services within the EAC are given under the separate sectors. The policy puts private enterprise development at the centre of improvement of people’s welfare.

The Government of Uganda, both in the National Development Plan (NDP) and in Vision 2040, recognises that integration into the EAC is essential for the overall development agenda of the country. Thus, this policy has 18 chapters designated in tandem with the 17 areas of cooperation as stipulated in the treaty for the establishment of the East African Community.

For instance, in the Agriculture and Food Security sector, an area where we enjoy comparative advantage because of the fertile soils and better rainfall patterns, the policy goal is to increase Uganda’s share of EAC regional agricultural trade to promote food security and national agricultural production.

It emphasises the need for Uganda to deliberately work towards becoming a food basket of the region. As we launch this policy, therefore, we are reminded of the fact that we need to position ourselves in such a way that we benefit from and fully participate in the integration process.

The document delves into all areas of cooperation and defines our comparative and competitive advantages as a country. It is thus a framework that will guide especially our business community to harness the opportunities presented by the EAC agenda.

Development of the whole document has been the work of all our stakeholders. The team at the ministry of East African Community Affairs and I are highly appreciative of their contributions.

At the ministry of East African Community Affairs, our plea is that all government institutions as well as non-state actors do utilize this document for the success of Ugandans in the larger integration process.

The document is an assurance by government to all Ugandans that our commitments to the ideals of East African Community integration still stand and we will promote them together for a better development of the current generation and for posterity.

Source: The Observer

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