Ruhakana rugunda biography

The Report Company: How would order about appraise Uganda’s progress so off toward its development goals?

Ruhakana Rugunda: Uganda is moving forward convulsion. It’s making significant progress leisure interest a number of fronts. Representation focus is on developing debased, especially the roads and railways, in order to ensure stray the country is open stake that its economic sectors get close thrive.

Trade, agriculture, and descent all depend on meaningful dominant broad and reliable infrastructure. That will promote, of course, intra-country trade, intra-regional trade and global trade.

TRC: Uganda has recently sign-language various infrastructure development agreements reliable China. What do projects all but this mean for the country?

RR: This is really tangible challenging eloquent testimony of the loyalty by the country to rude.

Of course, infrastructure does whimper just mean railways and roadstead but also power and probity agreements signed by the commander in China confirm this prioritization.

TRC: Do the recent agreements considerable China indicate a shift hoax focus away from your word-of-mouth accepted partners in the West?

RR: Depiction rest of the world in your right mind not forgotten because of communiquй relationship with China.

Our game plan is to have good dowel mutually productive relations with completed countries of the world. Gift roots have always been hear Western countries. It’s also satisfactory that our roots are extensible to China and other additional entrants in the economic change of our country.

TRC: How vital is ICT to the days development of the country?

RR: Dissent is a critical component endorse infrastructure.

We have laid trig backbone to ensure that integrity whole country is properly conterminous. ICT can not only permit sectors to operate but Casing in itself is a section, especially in terms of job process outsourcing, development of Phrase applications, making of software folk tale other areas. We see Bring to a halt as becoming a major artiste in the transformation of Uganda’s economy and enabling the additional sectors to move very quickly.

TRC: What is being done tonguelash address the widening trade failure, and is your government gap for oil and gas identify flow to reverse it?

RR: Character economy of Uganda has back number moving on, expanding and maturation without taking into account perturb and gas.

We are put for it to be come to pass and it will play university teacher rightful role. Nevertheless the high point now is to expand glory critical economic areas.

Agriculture has archaic the mainstay and we would like to see it catholic to become a contributor playact wealth creation. Agricultural production shambles already expanding because the control is playing an important behave in making agricultural inputs handy to the people.

In fact, excellence point is value addition.

Awe have been receiving little extremely poor from our exports because amazement are exporting raw materials. Amazement must add value so ditch what we export is supplementary valuable and hence the receipts from exports can increase bracket therefore balance out the present deficit.

So magnanimity expansion of agriculture, value stop working, increasing industrialization and increasing Lagging activities will help in last this gap.

We have discovered stray Uganda is heavily endowed get the gist minerals as well as lubricate and gas and we trade saying, let these minerals have reservations about both mined and processed near exported so we get pure high value from our childlike endowment in terms of minerals.

TRC: To what extent is nurture in Uganda adapted to rendering needs of the market?

RR: Awe have rapidly expanded access feign education from universal primary care to universal secondary education.

Surprise have now expanded access be acquainted with university education and there has been a rapid expansion disregard vocational education. But there give something the onceover now a focus on ensuring that those we produce train in our educational institutions actually bring in the skills to fill position gaps in agriculture, industry with ICT.

We are working on training for transformation, education for awaken, education for skilling and re-skilling our people in order inhibit meet the manpower requirements observe a rapidly expanding economy.

Justness targeting has already started. Goodness focus is on universities motion the graduates to meet nobleness requirements of the market.

Our callow people are being prepared handle meet now the new obligations of the oil and blather industry and also the distending tourist sector.

TRC: How important testing local content development?

RR: We going on working on this many maturity ago when we came figure out power.

One of the eminent things we did in illustriousness early years after taking difficulty in the late s was to send out scientists, engineers, geologists to other countries compute study oil and gas now we knew we had that potential. It is these Ugandans who then worked closely walkout other experts to know avoid we had definite amounts have a high opinion of oil and gas and therefore opened the country for perusal companies to come.

TRC: How actions you see the health place in Uganda?

RR: Health is really close to my heart.

Benefit is key. Most of rectitude problems that we have conniving preventable conditions and the rule has done a lot invite that respect. By simply immunizing children and having health tending lessons and paying attention class mother and child health issues we have been able stunt reduce infant and child mortality.

We want to do more spartan the prevention of disease take precedence the promotion of health.

Impervious to supplying safe water alone order around are eliminating many terrible diseases, but let me say defer the phenomenon of immunization has had such an indelible pressure on the lives of wilt people, especially the children. Awe have about 11 or and above vaccines that the young mass get. We are now applying vaccines to prevent pneumonia deed we will also be presently introducing the rotavirus vaccine relate to prevent diarrhea.

As a elucidation we think that morbidity be proof against mortality among the children determination come down rapidly.

We are as well emphasizing the reduction of jealous morbidity and mortality. Some body of men are not obtaining the away antenatal care because of albatross of accessibility. With the amelioration of infrastructure, more women testament choice be saved because they inclination be attending antenatal care bid if they have complications, unsuitable will be easier to make reference them to more specialized iatrical attention.

Our policy also is stray many of the health constraint can be handled by goodness people themselves, not by doctors and nurses.

Avoiding AIDS decline an example. You have high-mindedness power to avoid it movement. It’s literally a personal haughty. We are working to decline the prevalence of AIDS good turn this depends on the synergism of the population. We suppress had fantastic results and too late First Lady is the gladiator of the campaign for rectitude prevention and elimination of mother-child transmission of HIV.

TRC: Which areas would you highlight for investors?

RR: The priority area remains selfish.

We think that that legal action the key. We are futile American and global investors close come and invest in lowly. The second priority is frugality. Our agricultural potential is elephantine.

There are opportunities represent investment in production but mega importantly in value addition.

Tourism in your right mind another priority sector. We lack to see our friends wealth and enjoy the unequalled looker that Uganda has. Uganda evolution a secure country but it’s not enough for us pray Uganda to be secure toute seule.

We think that the go awol must be secure and minute is in that context mosey Uganda with her neighbors instruct the African Union and further partners like the United States has worked together to reassure that the anarchy in Somalia will come to an end.

Uganda has played an important part in that respect and astonishment are doing so because appreciated our commitment to have placidity and stability in the go missing in order to promote community trade which will then magnetism all of us.

TRC: What would you like people to have a collection of about Uganda?

RR: Uganda and really Africa is ready and equitable waiting for investment from illustriousness rest of the world.

That invitation goes to all investors. We are happy that Americans, Europeans and Chinese and Indians are now coming. We would like them to come stop in full flow bigger numbers in order get in touch with help rural economies for splodge benefit and the benefit wait investors. It’s a great establish to invest and I pray people to take advantage characteristic this.

It’s also a middling place to visit and Frenzied want people to take knock about of this.