Uganda invites Sri Lankan investment in textile sector

13 May '13

2 min read

The Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has invited Sri Lankan investment in the African country’s textile sector.

During his meeting with the visiting Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Mr. Museveni said the agricultural sector employs more than 80 percent of Uganda’s workforce.

According to a statement from Sri Lanka’s president office, the meeting between the two Presidents focused primarily on cotton and the textile industry.

The request to help develop Uganda’s textile industry was made on the basis of Sri Lanka’s success in the textile sector which can be gauged by the fact that textiles and apparels account for more than half of the overall exports of Sri Lanka.

Since there are many successful textile firms in Sri Lanka, President Rajapaksa said, “We will tell them (Sri Lankan textile firms) to come here (Uganda) and look into the (possibility)” of investing in Uganda’s textile sector.

The meeting dwelled on several potential areas for collaboration between the two countries, and particularly improving production techniques, building capacity and strengthening research as the key areas of cooperation.

The Ugandan Ministers, who were also present at the meeting, pointed out that there is a great scope for investment by Sri Lankan textile companies as only 5 percent of Uganda’s total cotton production is utilized domestically, the statement said.

The current visit of the Sri Lankan President was a follow-up of President Museveni’s visit to Sri Lanka last November, during which both the countries had agreed to collaborate on a number of sectors.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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