President Museveni has advised traders to focus on dealing with locally manufactured goods to develop the country.
According to President Museveni, the government was deliberate to increase the tax on some imported goods to protect the infant industries in the country. He explained that importation benefits the foreign manufacturers more at the expense of Uganda.
“I encourage you to graduate from importing to manufacturing because we have a big agenda of becoming a self-reliant Country,” Museveni said.
He made remarks while speaking to traders who gathered at Kololo independence grounds on Tuesday, May 7, 2024.
Commenting on the issue of Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solutions (EFRIS), Museveni directed the leaders of city traders to meet with the Uganda Revenue Authority(URA) officials to discuss how the EFRIS will be harmoniously solved.
He however encouraged traders to continue using their smartphones to implement EFRIS. He also directed the URA to stop charges levied on traders for failing to use the EFRIS until it is syncretized. Museveni added that the traders would be wrong if they opposed the Value Added Tax (VAT) stating that they should have been patriotic to pay tax to develop their Country.
He said that he would support traders who want to graduate from importing to manufacturing to support locally manufactured goods stating that it’s the way to develop Uganda.
President Museveni will meet again with the traders on June 20th, 2024 at Kololo independence grounds to communicate the final decision on the issues affecting traders including the EFRIS, increased taxes, and others.
