The Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Hon. Sanjay Tanna has held talks with the Japanese Ambassador to Uganda H.E. Sasayama Takuya who paid a courtesy call on him today at his office at Farmers House in Kampala.
The discussions were centered on strengthening bilateral ties through trade, infrastructure, and investment.
The Minister highlighted Kenya’s role as East Africa’s gateway and implored the Government of Japan through the Japan Internationa Cooperation Agency (JICA) to support the Government of Uganda in expanding the Busia and Malaba One Stop Border Posts to reduce the congestion at the two borders.
“There is a needto upgrade the Busia and Malaba OSBPs to accommodate the increased trade volumes along the Northern Corridor which have led ta frequent traffic snarl-ups and massive truck queues stretching dozens of kilometers. We would like Japan to support us in expanding the border infrastructure including working on the roads to boost regional trade,” said Tanna
Making a strong pitch for agro-processing, he invited Japanese investors to add value to Uganda’s agricultural produce especially the pineapples, avocados, milk, essential oils, organic honey, and shea butter- for medical and food supplement markets.
“We have it all here in plenty,; help us to add value to it and take it to the Japanese market,” he said.
“We have plenty of organic honey that is going to waste in northern Uganda We want people who can process it. We are also looking for market access for our sugar, milk, meat and eggs,” added Tanna.
The Ambassador Sasayama acknowledged Uganda’s agricultural progress, calling for stronger collaboration in agricultural projects like NERICA (New Rice_for Africa) upland rice project and machinery innovations for smallholder farmers, reaffirming Japan’s commitment to boosting food security and farming incomes across Uganda.
The Ambassador informed the Minister of a Business Mission for Japanese investors and policy makers that is coming to Uganda in January 2027 to explore business and investment opportunities in Uganda.
Hon. Tanna requested the Ambassador to share the names and sectors of the 30 companies already registered, to enable effective match-making with Japanese partners.
Tourism also featured in the discussions, with he Minister seeking Japan’s Science, Technology and Innovation expertise to better utilize Uganda’s infrastructure. He invited Japanese investment, noting many investors choose Kenya but urged them to consider Uganda, with full ministry support.
Sasayama extended an invitation to Hon. Tanna to the upcoming International Horticultural Expo 2027 also known as the Yokohama Green Expo 2027 that is scheduled to take place from March 19 to September 26 2027 in Yokohama City in Japan.
Japan has dedicated the 8h September 2027 as the Uganda National Day during the six months expo. He noted that the expo would be a great opportunity to further explore partnerships. Both sides committed to concrete follow-ups on trade, investment, and technology transfer.
Japan and Uganda have maintained official diplomatic relations since Uganda’s independence in 1962. Cooperation focuses heavily on infrastructure development, humanitarian aid for refugees, agricultural improvements, and economic trade, anchored by frameworks like the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).
japan, as a developed industrial country, has been extending development cooperation to Uganda, which is intended to bring about shared prosperity for both countries with major focuses on infrastructure such as the Source of the Nile Bridge and the flyover project going on in Kampala. Secondly,
Japan has also concentrated on promoting rice growing in the country over the last 15 years and this has benefitted the Ugandan farmers.
Japan has over the last 20 years been supporting the refurbishment of regional referral hospitals like Soroti Regional Referral Hospital,Mbale, Tororo in eastern Uganda and then Mbarara and Kabale,Lira, Gulu and Arua Regional Referral Hospitals.
Through Japanese International Cooperation Agency has over the years enrolled over 2,000 Ugandan trainees for a variety of technical courses in Japan.
