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Roscongress Foundation and Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Agreed to Cooperate

The Roscongress Foundation and the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry have signed a cooperation agreement to strengthen economic relations between the two countries. The parties agreed to focus on developing common world-class discussion platforms, strengthening the dialogue between the business communities of Russia and Uganda, as well as searching for new long-term partnerships.

The signing took place in an online ceremony. Alexander Stuglev, Chairman and CEO of the Roscongress Foundation and Head of the Coordinating Council under the Secretariat of the Russia–Africa Partnership Forum, and Olive Kigongo, President of the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, signed the document.

“The Roscongress Foundation puts a special emphasis on the cooperation with African countries. We are happy to have the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry as a reliable partner in the Republic of Uganda. Over the recent years, ties between our countries have been actively developing. We will make our best efforts to facilitate further development of the two countries’ economic and commercial potential and to establish contacts between their business communities,” noted Alexander Stuglev.

“The signing of the cooperation agreement with the Roscongress Foundation demonstrates the desire of our countries to increase cooperation in trade, investment, and entrepreneurship. We aim to put the agreement into practice for the benefit of both the Russian and Ugandan business communities,” said Mrs. Olive Kigongo.

In October 2019, Sochi hosted the first ever Russia–Africa Summit and Economic Forum. It was attended by a representative delegation from Uganda led by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.

“We highly value the results of our joint work at the summit. I am sure the achieved results are creating a good foundation for further deepening the Russia-Africa partnership in the interests of our nations’ prosperity and wellbeing.”

President of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Putin

The Russia–Africa Summit, which is taking place in Sochi on 23–24 October 2019, encapsulates the historically friendly relations between the African continent and the Russian Federation. This Summit carries great significance as it is the first of its kind to emerge during a period of major global and international transformations. In response to the aspirations of the people it is representing, the Summit intends to build a comprehensive framework for expanding Russian–African relations into broader horizons of joint cooperation across different fields.

The African nations and Russia share a common understanding of international relations, based on the principles of respect for the rule of international law, equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, and the peaceful resolution of disputes. Both sides affirm their commitment to support multilateral actions to oppose new international threats, be they terrorism and extremism in all their forms, or declining growth rates. The two sides share a firm conviction regarding the importance of developing trade flows and supporting mutual investment in such a way as to ensure security, peace and development for the African and Russian people.

African countries have huge potential and opportunities that will allow them, once efforts to streamline their economies have been achieved, to emerge as real global players. In recent years, the nations of this continent have achieved major successes spanning the political, economic, social and administrative spheres. Africa has flourished in terms of growth over the past decade, reaching a continent-wide growth rate of 3.55% in 2018.

The African Union Summit, which was held in Niger in July 2019, continued the efforts of the African countries and saw the African Continental Free Trade Agreement come into force, along with its operational instruments. The agreement is one of the key objectives of Agenda 2063, an African development strategy that has been created to address the African people’s desire for prosperity and decent living standards.

These successes are opening up wide-ranging prospects for cooperation between African countries and the Russian Federation, and confirm the determination of African governments and their people to cooperate with multiple partners in order to establish mutually beneficial relations.

With this in mind, we express our hopes that the Russia–Africa Summit will help in the establishment of constructive strategic relations, based on partnership between two sides across various fields, and in the service of fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the African people and their friends in Russia.

President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Abdelfattah ALSISI