KAMPALA – Uganda will between Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th August 2022 host the Inaugural Session of the Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) with Somalia at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kampala.
The Joint Permanent Commission session seeks to bolster existing excellent and cordial bilateral relations and deepen cooperation between Kampala and Mogadishu.
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Uganda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains that Kampala and Somalia enjoy excellent fraternal relations and strong historical bonds of friendship and solidarity firmly anchored on the principle of Pan-Africanism.
The Bilateral relations between the two countries are mainly pursued through bilateral frameworks of Cooperation such as the JPC and Joint Permanent Investment and Business Council (JIBC) which will be hosted on a rotational basis between both countries.
Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Gen Jeje Odongo will lead Uganda’s delegation and while Abshir Omar Huruuse, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Somalia will lead Somalia’s delegation at the meeting.
The JPC seeks to address key among other issues; exploring new areas of cooperation between both countries, regularizing the different sector technical meetings of the JPC, and ensuring the timely implementation of all areas that have been agreed upon through effective coordination and implementation mechanism.
A statement from the JPC host indicated that the engagement will deliberate on enhancing bilateral cooperation between both countries in priority sector areas including diplomatic and Political Consultations, Trade and Investment, Defence Cooperation, and Agriculture.
Other areas include Immigration, Education, and Transport.
A Framework Agreement between Kampala and Mogadishu was signed in Kampala, on 19th November 2016. A Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) was signed in August 2019 and MOU between Makerere University and Somali University. This Bilateral Air Service Agreement operationalized the commencement of Uganda Airlines’ direct flights from Uganda to Mogadishu.
In terms of Defence cooperation, Uganda was the first country to deploy troops to Somalia and remains the leading troop Contributing Country (TCC) to AMISOM. AMISOM has brought relative peace and. stability in Somalia, leading to some noticeable economic recovery, and a boom in trade and reconstruction.
In a bid to enhance Bilateral Trade and implement the Ministry of Foreign Affairs policy of promoting Commercial and Economic Diplomacy, Uganda will also host the 1st Uganda – Somalia Investment Business Summit under the theme “Promoting Uganda – Somalia Partnership through Investment, Trade and Tourism” from 9th – 10th August 2022 at the Speke Resort Munyonyo.
President Museveni of Uganda and President Hassan Shiekh Mohamud of Somalia will address the Private Sector and the Business communities of both countries at this Forum.
The primary objective of the Investment and Business Summit is to provide a platform for Private Sector/Business Community together with other relevant stakeholders like Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), to freely exchange views and ideas on how to ease the cost-of-doing-business, and thus richly reap from existing and future business opportunities by agreeing on how to overcome existing challenges, learn lessons and business strategies for smooth mutual exchange between the two markets of Uganda and Somalia and beyond
The purpose of the Summit is to strengthen Bilateral Cooperation in Trade and Investment between Uganda and Somalia and support potential investors/Business Community with a conducive business environment.
The other areas include raising awareness about investment and business opportunities that exist between Uganda and Somalia and Enlightening Private Sector on positive Investment Policy changes in Uganda and Somalia.
