Sudhir commends gov’t for friendly investment environment as Shopping Union, a Chinese retailer opens at Kingdom Kampala Mall

Billionaire businessman and property mogul Dr. Sudir Ruparelia has commended the government for its continued investor friendly environment that has ensured a steady flow of foreign direct investment into the country, stimulating growth and creating jobs for especially the country’s youth. 

The businessman was speaking at the December 13^th opening of Shopping Union, a large retail outlet established by Chinese investors at Kingdom Kampala Mall, owned by the Ruparelia Group.

“FDI coupled with our own domestic investments is the best way of creating jobs and thriving livelihoods for Ugandans,” he said. 

An improved investment climate has contributed to rising Ugandan exports that have registered a Compounded Annual Growth rate of 10% over the last 4 financial years, from USD2.7bn in FY15/16 to USD4bn in FY18/19 according to figures from Bank of Uganda.

Ye Baochun, the proprietor of Shopping Union said the retail outlet will stock a wide-range of goods for both local and international clients.

“Our focus is offering good and quality products at affordable prices,” she said. 

China, according to a recent 2018/19 FDI report by Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) topped the the list of major sources of planned FDI.

Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), a state agency charged with investment promotion, said that planned investments out of China were expected to reach USD607 million, comprising 45.1% of all planned investments.

Releasing the report in September 2018, Lawrence Byensi, acting Executive Director of UIA, said that Ugandan investments were the second biggest source of planned investments, accounting for 24.4% of total planned investment.

Lebanon *USD70 million), India (USD58 million), United Arab Emirates (USD55 million) were the other sources of big investments.

The sectors that attracted the highest investment in the planned licensed projects during the period under review were manufacturing with 148 projects, agriculture with 51 projects, and transport, storage, communications, construction had 17 licensed project, among others.