President Yoweri Museveni has commissioned the Sino-Uganda Industrial Park in Mbale district which is expected to house 55 factories and create employment for over 15,000 people.
The President commissioned the industrial park which sits on an area of 2.51 square kilometers, on Friday. The multifunctional park will be divided into different zones of; manufacturing, agroprocessing, hotels and commercial facilities, ICT hubs, power reserve, incubators for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and warehousing.
It is part of the 22 state-level industrial parks across the country that have been constructed by Tian Tang Group.
In his remarks during the commissioning ceremony, President Yoweri Museveni said that government is looking to set Uganda’s major towns on an industrialization path. Part of the plan, he said, is to transform these towns which are largely retail trade centres into manufacturing powerhouses.
“Look at our major towns; Mbale, Soroti, Gulu, Mbarara, Jinja or even Kampala. They are full of grocery shops and supermarkets. All they do is sell. There is no manufacturing,” Museveni said.
“So, what is happening in Mbale today is ‘ukhwinyuka’ (waking up). We now want industrial towns, not towns of shops. Shops do not create jobs but factories do,” he added.
According to the President, Africa is immensely blessed with resources but the continent is equally still faced with poverty which he attributed to the fact that people are still in slumber.
He noted that the NRM government had prioritized stabilizing the country and has now embarked on building infrastructure like roads, electricity as well as the railway, to support industries.
“And once our factories begin work, we must support them. For example, I have now made it a rule that all my shirts must be made in Uganda. I do not wear shirts made outside Uganda,” he said.
The first factory to be set up here in Mbale will be manufacturing glass.
At the same event, Museveni appealed to the people squatting on the Sino-Uganda industrial park land to leave. He said the land formerly belonged to the Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU) but that government had paid (BCU) as well as the squatters.
Friday’s event was also attended by Finance Minister, Matia Kasaija, State Minister for Investment and Privatization, Evelyne Anite, State Minister for Lands, Persis Namuganza, officials from Tian Tang Group and local leaders among others.