President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan will pay a state visit to Uganda from November 14-15, 2017, the second since attending the swearing-in ceremony of President Yoweri Museveni on May 12, 2016.
During the upcoming visit by President Bashir, a number of areas of cooperation will be discussed including trade and investment, agriculture, regional peace and security as well as international matters of mutual interest.
In September 2015 President Museveni paid a 2-day working visit to Sudan during which he delivered a lecture on the theme “The Challenges of Economic Development and Peace Building” to the Cabinet Ministers, Diplomatic Corps, Academicians and Civil Society.
President Museveni again visited Khartoum in 2016, to witness the closure of the National Dialogue Conference; and also held a discussion with President Bashir on further improvement of bilateral relations.
On the other hand the Sudanese Undersecretary/Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs visited Uganda from October 5-6, 2017 and met his counterpart Amb. Patrick Mugoya, during which the two sides agreed on steps to implement the decisions taken by the 5th session of the Joint Ministerial Commission which was held in Khartoum. Among the issues they discussed were opportunities for trade and investment, immigration, air transport, regional issues and security matters. Uganda will be hosting the 6th Session of the Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) by March 2018.
Sudan imports 20% of Uganda coffee and is the single biggest export market for the product from which about US $ 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.
They also held a meeting with respective Ministries and stakeholders to discuss ways of improving the Coffee trade with Sudan.
President Al-Bashir will be accompanied by Ministers, Senior Officials and a business delegation in various sectors who will be seeking opportunities to carry out trade, investments and business partnerships. During the visit, a Sudan-Uganda Business Forum is expected to be held.
A joint communiqué will be issued at the end of the visit.
