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Uganda Granted $3.8 Bn Debt Cancellation by G8 Countries

Hon. Sam Kutesa, Minister of Foreign Affairs

President Museveni, while launching the Blue Book on Investment prepared by the Japanese Bank for International Development Cooperation and UNCTAD, on June 15, 2005 in Kampala thanked the G8 Countries for cancelling the debts of the highly indebted developing countries.

However, he observed that the best way forward is to ensure that developing countries such as Uganda get access to the markets of the developed world for their products. The President observed that Uganda and other African countries are “donors” in the sense that by exporting unprocessed coffee, for example, they donate (or lose) $10 per kilogram to the outside world. President Museveni suggested that the issue of patents should be added to the14 Bills that are proposed in the Blue Book for the improvement of the national economy.

The Blue Book’s main objective is poverty reduction through encouraging foreign direct investment by Japanese firms in order to spur economic growth and development in Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Uganda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Sam Kutesa, hailed the decision by the G-8 Ministers of Finance to cancel multilateral debt owed by the highly indebted developing countries. He pointed out that the debt cancellation will free up resources for education, health and other social services, as well as for economic infrastructure that will greatly contribute to Uganda’s economic development. Uganda’s external debt totals $4.7bn of which 80% ($3.8bn) is owed to multilateral creditors: the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the African Development Bank.

The G-8 Summit comprising of the leaders of the United States of America, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy, Germany, Canada, and Russia is scheduled to take place in Gleneagles, United Kingdom in July 2005.

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