President Museveni Launches Uganda Trade Hub In Serbia

By Gad Masereka

In the Serbian capital of Belgrade, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Sunday officially launched the Uganda Connect Trade Hub.

Through the hub, Uganda and Serbia will be able to improve their bilateral ties and open up new markets for their goods and services in the Balkans.

President Museveni, who is on a two-day official visit to Serbia, officially opened the facility today and praised H.E. Aleksandar Vucic and his administration for allowing Uganda to advertise its commodities in the European nation.

“We want to encourage our coffee to come here processed since there is some coffee consuming in Serbia and in this region of the world, including Russia and other things. They have consented to purchase our processed coffee, said H.E. the President.

“I want to let you know that Uganda has begun to widen its export markets. Contrary to several Western countries, Serbia has permitted and is prepared to purchase our processed goods, such as coffee, clothing, food, and leather, among others.

In the Serbian city of Belgrade, President Museveni and H.E. Aleksandar Vucic visit some of the Ugandan goods at Uganda Connect.

(Always PPU Photos) The hub, according to President Museveni, would be utilised to provide a contact point “from where you can get what all you need and all the linkages,” which will be crucial in promoting Uganda’s exports. The hub simplifies the address for anyone trying to purchase something from Uganda.

He expressed his gratitude to the Ugandan people, the Odrek Rwabwogo-led PACEID team, and other stakeholders for their crucial contributions in helping Uganda reach this significant milestone in the promotion of its agricultural products around the world.

“I’m very grateful. This accomplishment may also enable us to fly to new horizons, according to President Museveni. “We should take advantage of this opportunity because a kilogramme of processed coffee will net us $40. Do you see how we have been losing money when a kilogramme of raw coffee costs merely $2.50? I’m engaged in this battle right now.

President of Serbia H.E. Aleksandar Vucic praised Mr. Bratislav Stoiljkovic for his tireless efforts in establishing a new trade and investment link between Serbia and Uganda.

He also praised Mr. Bratislav Stoiljkovic, Uganda’s trade representative in Serbia, for his tireless efforts to build a new trade and investment link between the two nations. He claimed that occasionally he utilises his own funds to advance the cause.

President Museveni stated regarding the tax on processed coffee, “I raised it with His Excellency the President, and he is going to look into it. In January of the following year, he will visit Uganda for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, by which time we will have advanced considerably.

At the junction of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans, Serbia is a landlocked nation in Southeast and Central Europe.

The country has an upper-middle income, service-based economy, and two-thirds of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) comes from the tertiary sector. The free market’s tenets underlie how the economy runs.

The nominal GDP of Serbia in 2022 is expected to be $65.697 billion, or $9,561 per capita, according to the International Monetary Fund, while the purchasing power parity GDP was $153.076 billion, or $22,278 per capita. Services make up the majority of the economy, with 67.9% of GDP, followed by industry (26.1%) and agriculture (6.6%).