Turkish Firm Gets Ugandan Zone

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Ne w s Tuesday, June 14, 2016 Turkish ﬁrm gets Ugandan zone

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Recently during a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Ergodan ASB Group of Companies was oﬃcially allocated land to set up an economic zone. The deal was overseen by the Ergodan and his counterpart President Yoweri Museveni. below is the oﬃcial statement.

‘Matia Kasaija, Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development on behalf of the Government of Uganda handed over a Certiﬁcate of Title to ASB Group of Companies from Turkey at the Serena Hotel in Kampala.

The company intends to establish a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Kaweweta, Nakaseke District as part of Government’s eﬀorts to industrialise the economy.

This was during the Business Forum meeting graced by the two Heads of State of Uganda and Turkey at Serena Hotel on 1st June 2016 where prospective investors from Turkey had an interactive platform exploring investment opportunities in Uganda.

In a bid to facilitate investors, Government oﬀered ASB Group of Companies 18 square miles of land in Kaweweta, Nakaseke District on lease for 49 years and shall undertake to develop infrastructure in the SEZ including roads, water systems, ICT structures and more to promote the investment.

ASB Group of Companies is one of the largest Turkish based companies dealing in the energy sector and other related activities. It has extensive international experience in managing and operating agribusiness, transportation, trading, investment, oil, gas and engineering services around the world.

The Uganda Free Zones Authority will oversee this establishment and supervise the activities therein as stipulated by the Free Zones Act, 2014. A Free Zone is a controlled geographic area where goods are landed, handled, manufactured or reconﬁgured, and re-exported without the intervention of the customs authorities.

The policy objective of Government in adopting Free Zones schemes is to increase Uganda’s export potential and increase jobs, thereby reducing the current trade deﬁcit. The investments that will be realised feed into these policy objectives.

Kasaija, Minister of Finance said, ‘This ushers in a critical investment in manufacturing and agribusiness, particularly livestock and meat production in Uganda.’ The Project will accelerate infrastructure development, create 10,000 - 15,000 jobs, increase on productivity, technological transfer, and is projected to boost GDP growth of the Ugandan economy.

Mr. Ayan Bahaddin, the representative of the Chairman of ASB Group said, ‘Our main target is to turn Kaweweta Free Zone into Uganda’s primary gate-way for the entry of FDI, and there will be economic spill-over eﬀects to the national economy.’ The project will attract local farmers to contract farming formula and will bring in about 200 entities into the Kaweweta Special Economic Zone.

ASB Group of Companies plans to invest in livestock, coﬀee, cotton and other agro based processing which they will export to the European, Middle East and other international markets, helping to boost Uganda’s economy.

In light of the large investments required for Free Zones development, a strong commitment from government and active participation of the private sector is crucial.

As it is within the region, Government will have to invest in the development of Free Zone infrastructure and amenities in order to attract Investment within Free Zones.

As the Authority sets to open its maiden Free Zone in the country, it is hoped that this will mark the beginning of exponential growth in the export Industry for Uganda.’

By Sam Okwakol, Tuesday, June 14th, 2016

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