The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives in partnership with Trade Mark Africa, United Kingdom International Development and other partners is scheduled to hold the national trade sector review conference 2026 , a highly level national platform designed to review trade, industry and cooperatives sector performance, it’s wide goals and mandate, analyze the progress in implementation of the past initiatives and devise strategies for the development of the sector.
According to the press release by the Media Centre, the conference will take place on 4th- 5th March at the Common Wealth Resort Munyoyo under the theme, “Trade Driven Transformation Propelling Uganda to $500 Economy by 2040.” This is expected to provide a structured environment to align Uganda’s trade strategy with it’s ambition to expand the economy tenfold to approximately $500 by 2040.
The conference is positioned as a national evidence, multi stakeholder dialogue intended to generate actionable trade policy and strategy recommended to accelerate Uganda’s tenfold growth strategy anchored on the ATMS- model which is Agro Industrialization, Tourism Development, Mineral Development and Science, Technology and Innovation.
The conference is expected to convene 250- 350 participants including government ministries, departments and agencies, private sector, small and medium enterprises cooperatives, civil society, development partners, regional Trade bodies and Media organizations.
” A major highlight of the conference will be the launch of the revised National Trade Policy which has been revised to align the current economic shifts including the African Continental Free Trade Area( AFCTA), new regional markets and focus on value addition, statement said.
During the conference the Ministry will also launch the national trade Policy development and implementation plan, the national export development strategy and the online reporting platform.
These instruments are expected to guide regulatory reforms, export promotion, service trade competitiveness, mineral based industrialization, agro industrial value chain scaling, cooperative led trade expansion and the application of trade policy to promote trade order quality and standardization.