The Executive Director of the Private Sector Foundation Uganda, Gideon Badagawa has appealed to business owners to re- think and re-construct their business strategies such that they can reflect regional perspectives.

Gideon Badagawa

This comes barely a month after the opening of the East African borders under the common market that kicked off on 1 July 2010.

Badagawa has told participants in the International Trade Facilitation Expo 2010 that with about 300 million people, a combined Gross Domestic Product of over $73 billion and with vast natural resources the common market presents a formidable trading bloc with the rest of the world. He says if well exploited, the opportunity presented by the East African common market has the capacity to fast track economic growth in the region.

Badagawa says however that can only be so if business like those in Uganda change their strategies and begin looking beyond the borders of Africa.

The coming into force of the East African Common Market protocol means that businesses can trade across the borders of EAC member states Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.

The two day expo is running under the theme “Competing effectively in the East African Community Market” and this year the expo has organised business clinics, where business people are informed about available opportunities and how to use such opportunities to compete effectively in the EAC Common market.

This expo gives a platform to over 200 providers of trade facilitations services to show case their services to the private sector.

The Uganda Private Sector Foundation every year organizes Annual International Trade Facilitation events.

By Tiberindwa Zakaria, Ultimate Media