East African Community Secretariat, Kampala, Uganda, 3rd
September, 2015: The
Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Dr Richard
Sezibera, on Thursday paid a working visit to Roofings Group Uganda at
its 2nd plant located in Namanve, Uganda's
upcoming Industrial Area on the outskirts of the capital, Kampala.
The Secretary General was accompanied by
Hon. Dr. James Shinyabulo Mutende, Uganda's Minister of State for
Industry; Mr. Dennis Karera, the Chair of the East African Business
Council (EABC) and the Ag. CEO, Ms. Lilian Awinja;
Mr. Hussein Omar, the EABC Uganda Chapter Chair; Dr. Samuel M.
Nyantahe, Chairman of Confederation of Tanzania Industries; Amb. Jean
Rigi, Burundi's Permanent Secretary for EAC Affairs, and; Commissioner
Rona Sserwada from Uganda's Ministry of EAC Affairs.
Welcoming the Secretary General to the Plant, the Chairman and Managing Director of the Roofings Group, Mr. Sikander Lalani, said it was gratifying that Amb. Sezibera's visit to the plant came immediately after the 1 st East African Manufacturing Business Summit held from 1st to 2nd September, 2015 in the Ugandan capital.
Welcoming the Secretary General to the Plant, the Chairman and Managing Director of the Roofings Group, Mr. Sikander Lalani, said it was gratifying that Amb. Sezibera's visit to the plant came immediately after the 1 st East African Manufacturing Business Summit held from 1st to 2nd September, 2015 in the Ugandan capital.
Lalani said the deliberations at the
Summit were all geared towards job creation for the youth, increasing
value addition, quality assurance, enhancing tax revenues, fair trade
and. most importantly, boosting the region's economic
standing in the world.
Lalani told the Secretary General of
various issues that must be addressed at the regional level in order to
boost the growth of the steel sector, namely: the need to increase the
EAC Common External Tariff (CET) on galvanized
wire to 25% in the region, and; the Re-bars to have either a fixed
import tax rate based on volume at $250 EAC CET per tonne or based on
value at 25% CET, whichever is higher.
The CEO also proposed removing cold rolled
coils, galvanized coils and pre-painted coils removed from the duty
remission schemes of Rwanda and Burundi. He also requested the region to
put in place a robust quality assurance system
by way of adopting regional standards in the steel sector as well as
putting in place a level playing field in tax administration.
He further urged Partner States'
governments to prioritize and enhance local/regional content for
infrastructural and donor funded projects as a way of promoting the Buy
East African, Build East Africa campaign.
Lalani disclosed that the Group was
employing people from the region without any discrimination for as long
as they have the required skills and ability to deliver.
He also assured the Secretary General that
the firm was keen on investing in the entire region depending on the
enabling environment in terms of import duty policies, level of playing
field and availability of markets.
Minister of State for Industry Dr. Mutende
assured the Secretary General and investors in the region that Uganda
Government was working to address all the issues impacting on her
business environment including a reduction in
energy costs.
EABC Chair Mr. Karera called for an urgent
meeting of steel producers and stakeholders before the end of September
2015 to address the issues impacting on business in the sector in the
region, adding that a regional code of conduct
was being developed and will be considered for adoption at the November
EAC Heads of State Summit.
In his remarks, Amb. Dr. Sezibera
congratulated Mr. Lalani for the massive and quality investment in
Uganda and the wider East African region, adding that some of the issues
raised were already being addressed by the EAC Secretariat,
the Council of Ministers and EABC.
On the issue of standards, Amb. Sezibera urged the Roofings Group to work closely with the EABC and the EAC Secretariat to sort them out.
On the issue of standards, Amb. Sezibera urged the Roofings Group to work closely with the EABC and the EAC Secretariat to sort them out.
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