Between December 1 and 5, the East African community will hold a Lake Victoria Basin Investment forum that is will be aimed at the development of one of the largest water body.
The meeting is expected to bring together investors from within and outside the region, aims to showcase investment opportunities that abound in the Lake Victoria Basin. In an official announcement sent to one of Uganda’s News Papers the Daily Monitor, Mr Richard Othieno, the acting head of corporate communications and public affairs at the EAC secretariat, said that a planning meeting will be held tomorrow in Arusha, Tanzania, with a high level representation from the community’s organs and institutions, partner states and business leaders. He added that the preparation and strategy meeting’s aim is to invite potential partners with the first Lake Victoria Basin Investment Forum. This forth coming forum is anticipated to attract over 1,000 business and government leaders from within and beyond the region. Participants are expected to discuss transport and communication, tourism, agri-business and fisheries, trade and industry, and research and development. The Lake Victoria Basin was designated an important explosive economic growth zone of the EAC.
Lake Victoria is an inter-border reserve ce and the most important communal resource of the five EAC partner states. It occupies approximately 194,000 square kilometres and boasts of a market capability of about 40 million people, with an estimated yearly GDP of $40 billion and an affluence of economic resource potential. This compares well with the overall East African population of about 120 million people with a GDP of about $70 billion.
Mr Othieno stated that in spite of the profusion of resources in the basin, poverty is high. This calls for augmented combined efforts and cooperation towards the success of the Lake Victoria Basin shared dream of a “prosperous population.”
Uganda Travel News
