KAMPALA — Uganda Investment Authority says there are several business opportunities in the industrial parks that need to be tapped into by the local business people.
UIA, a government agency responsible for investment was given a mandate to establish 22 industrial and business parks to create jobs and add value to locally available raw materials.
In a recent report UIA indicated that nine industrial parks out of the 22 are already occupied by investors but there are also parks that are being developed by private investors.
Among the private industrial parks is the Liao Shen Industrial park recently commissioned by President Yoweri Museveni in Kapeeka, Nakaseke district.
UIA has worked together with other government agencies and management of the park to attract investors and Liao Shen industrial park is currently occupied by 13 investors out of the targeted 80 investors.
The industrial park located on 5.2sq km is expected to be fully operational by the year 2022.
“There business opportunities in the already and newly established industrial parks that local business people can exploit,” says the UIA Acting Director General Lawrence Byensi.
He said that for Liao industrial park, there are investment opportunities in large scale agriculture since some of the industries are into agro-processing and value addition.
There are already four investors in agro-processing who include Ho and Mu Food Technology Uganda Company Limited who are processing dried fruits and Yahe International Investment Company Limited that is investing in processing maize flour.
Jind Company Limited is investing in vegetable oil production while Gaga Food Technology Company limited is to produce snacks.
“These will need a lot of fruits and agricultural related products from the local farmers, who in turn should provide large volumes of fruits and related agricultural products to the processors,” he added.
He adds that opportunities exist is supplying cement and other construction related products since many factories are being licensed to start construction.
“In future, employees of these factories will need hotel and accommodation facilities, schools, hospitals, recreational facilities, conference halls among others that need to be looked into by our local business people,” he said adding that as more investors are licensed, local business people should be able to find out what the new investors require to be supplied to them.
The park is already connected to a 132kv power line by the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company from Kawanda to Kapeeka.
Mr. Museveni while commissioning the park recently promised to work on the Matugga-Kapeeka road and to reduce the power costs to five cents for the industrialists.
“Instead of planning for a sewerage system for the park only, we should plan for the whole of Kapeeka,” Museveni said.
