Sudanese president to visit Uganda next Tuesday
November 11, 2017 (KAMPALA) — Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir will visit Uganda next Tuesday for bilateral talks with his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni, announced e foreign ministry in Kampala.
Human rights activists have in the past urged Uganda to arrest the Sudanese leader who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In his visit on 14-15 November, President al-Bashir will be accompanied by ministers, senior officials and a business delegation in various sectors to discuss trade, investments and business partnerships. Also, a Sudan-Uganda Business Forum is expected to be held during the visit.
After long years of mistrust and accusation of support to rebel groups, Kampala and Khartoum are now working together on may regional files including the South Sudanese crisis and enhancing bilateral relations in various field.
Also, President al-Bashir attended the inauguration of President Museveni in May 2016 and the latter visited Khartoum in October of the same year to attend the final session of National Dialogue Conference.
The Sudanese Undersecretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Abdel-Ghani Al-Nai’m visited Kampala to prepare for the visit and met his counterpart Patrick Mugoya on 5-6 October 2017. The two parties agreed to implement the decisions during the latest joint commission meetings held in Khartoum earlier this year.
“Among the issues they discussed were opportunities for trade and investment, immigration, air transport, regional issues and security matters,” said the statement.
Sudan imports 20% of Uganda coffee and is the single biggest export market for the product from which about $100 million is earned.
A delegation from the Sudanese Standards and Metrology Organization visited Uganda from November 5-8, 2017 to inspect the coffee testing/quality assurance facilities of Uganda Coffee Development Authority, Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and private coffee processors.
(ST)