Trade Ministry challenged to address gaps in National Trade Policy

Grace Aciro, an entrepreneur woman based in northern Uganda, revealed that the National Trade Policy needs to be inclusive and have all the voices of the most vulnerable populations included.

According to Aciro, the inclusion of voices of the local and rural small-medium enterprises men and women will be essential in seeing the progress of the policy and its subsequent impacts.

Martin Kaboine, Program Officer at Trade Mark Africa for Uganda and South Sudan, says that they have partnered with the Ministry of Trade to address the gaps in the policy.

Kaboine further noted that the policy has been in place for the last 10 years and has not been reviewed, with many issues that need to be addressed, including the inclusivity.

He further revealed that the policy focuses on strategies like promoting value addition, producing high-value, low volume products and niche marketing.

“It also prioritises the development of trade-facilitating infrastructure through public-private partnerships, including storage infrastructure,” Kaboine explained.

The Uganda National Trade Policy was approved in 2007 aimed at boosting private sector competitiveness and to support productive sectors to trade both domestically and internationally.