Hurdles in the movement of goods and service within the East African Community (EAC) still pose a major trade barrier in the region, according to Uganda's Treasury Permanent secretary Ramadhan Ggoobi.
He said the country is pushing for harmonisation of non-tariff barriers in the region to drive trade in the six-member trading block.
The PS said the country is in the process of setting up Special Economic Zones (SEZs) as part of its drive to attract investors.
Ggoobi spoke when he led a Ugandan delegation in a visit to Tatu City which is Kenya's first SEZ to learn about its operations. The visit followed one by Uganda's National Assembly Finance Committee.
Among them, the non tariff barriers and absence of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in some of the countries under the block.
"We are here because Kenya is a leader in Special Economic Zones and we believe Tatu City will provide us with a good opportunity to lear," said Ggoobi.
He said Uganda would initiate further talks at the EAC towards the harmonisation of non-tariff barriers to facilitate easier trade between member states.
The EAC partners in the recent past have had squabbles over trade rules, for instance, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo closing boarders to trade.
This was over security concerns in the face of violence blamed on the resurgence of M23 rebel group.
In June, Uganda threatened to withdraw duty remission in retaliation to a trade war with Kenya involving agricultural products, blaming Kenya of persistent introduction of tax measures on Uganda’s exports.
Tanzania and Kenya have in recent past had a trade dispute where Kenya claimed that Tanzania had doubled the cost of export permits by 93 per cent.
Tatu City’s executive vice president Solomon Mahinda described the bench-marking visit as a demonstration by the EAC community of a readiness to collaborate and accelerate the ease of doing business.
“There is potential for regional cooperation on the regulatory environment for SEZs to spur investment, trade and job creation," Mahinda said.
