By Silvia Nyambura
The European Business Forum will host its first Annual Business Expo and Food Festival in Uganda next month. The event dubbed ‘3 days in Europe’ will run from Friday 6th May to Sunday 8th May 2016 at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel Gardens. It aims at facilitating business development, trade partnership as well as cultural exchange between Europe and Uganda.
The Business Expo has been organized in partnership with embassies, missions and private businesses. It is set to host and address opportunities in renewable energy, agriculture, performing arts, tourism, trade investment and value enhancement for export as well as skills development for sustainable growth.
Addressing the media at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel this morning, John Petter Gausted, the chairperson of the European Business Forum said, “This initiative aims at getting more Ugandans to export to Europe. For this to happen, the issue of standards has to be addressed to ensure we get quality premium product. This event creates a platform for Ugandan exporters to be educated on how to get into the European Market. It will also highlight trade opportunities alongside cultural diversity and exchange.”
Kristian Schmidt, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Uganda said the event is big step in the right direction as far as trade is concerned.
“We have reached an agreement with the Ugandan government that will allow us to do more business together. The European market is open to the East African Community (EAC) and all exports are free to enter without any custom duty charges. The EAC on the other hand has accepted to reduce custom duties for European companies,” he said.
It has taken over 10 years for the two regions to agree on trade ties with the EAC struggling to meet EU’s required quality standards. Schmidt explained this is because European markets find it difficult to open themselves up to competition.
“Opening up to other markets is a long gradual process. Stakeholders have to weigh between the short and long term benefits of it. In addition, for markets to transition into full liberalization, there is need to standardize and harmonize processes and this takes time. Many European markets went global after first transforming regionally. We believe this is what needs to happen in the EAC and we can already see progress with the way the region is handling and reducing red tape in trade,” he noted.
The festival will celebrate and embrace the Ugandan cultural diversity through food, beverage, fashion and entertainment. Cuisine restaurants will demonstrate and spinoff European recipes with the use of local ingredients.
