The Czech Republic has opened a consulate in Uganda in a move to bolster relations between the two countries.
The honorary consul of Czech Republic to Uganda, Stephen Mpuuga Kaboyo on Friday met the minister of state for Foreign Affairs Henry Okello Oryem at the ministry headquarters where he presented his credentials. Kaboyo, who becomes the first consul to Uganda, was accompanied by Martin Klepetko, the ambassador of Czech Republic in Nairobi.
The team had a closed meeting for about an hour before briefing the press. According to Klepetko, Czech is highly industrialized producing agricultural, defense and security machinery as well as in areas of the transport sector, and these are areas that Uganda can highly benefit from.
"We would like to develop our business, diplomatic ties and many other areas of cooperation. We are indeed ready to jump in whenever there are opportunities. We will bring in our companies and experts to develop the cooperation between the two countries.'' said Klepetko.
He says having a representative in Kaboyo, will help speed up tapping into opportunities for companies and individuals to develop cooperation within the two countries. Kaboyo said that the Czech economy is very diversified, very industrialized and an export-oriented economy that Uganda will benefit from. He says his role will be to lobby private sector layers in the Czech Republic to come to Uganda.
According to Kaboyo, Uganda has been struggling to look for markets, and the Czech Republic can be explored more. He says the development will increase trade between Uganda and Europe in general.
"There is a lot that Uganda and Czech can do. The Czech Republic is a highly industrialised economy and very diversified. It is a member of the European Union. My focus will be in agribusiness, health, and education. For instance they have the best universities in Europe,"
Kaboyo said.
Key sectors of the Czech economy include automobile, aerospace, high tech engineering rail, IT software, defence systems, agri-business and tourism. The Czech economy is a developed export oriented market based on manufacturing, innovation and services. It is a highly industrialized country with the industry sector accounting for 38% of the economy.
The GDP of Czech is above $250 billion and is the fastest growing economy in Europe averaging 4.4% for the last couple of years.
''Clearly there are synergies that we can build between Uganda and Czech. A good example is our commodities. The Czech imports significant quantities of raw materials. This is a ready market for our exports. We do not have to look very far. The potential is there.'' Kaboyo said.
The opening of the consulate was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Czech Republic is a landlocked country located in central Europe. It was part of Austria-Hungary before World War I. In 1999 Czech Republic became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and is a member of the European Union in 2004.
Source
