Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a memorandum of understanding to promote trade, harmonise immigration formalities and ease cross border trade. Under the MOU,
the two countries are to facilitate investment in manufacturing, exchange information and statistics and generally foster cooperation between their private sectors.
The MOU signed by Trade Minister Amelia Kyambadde for Uganda and her counterpart, Lucien Bussa Tongba is aimed at resolving most of the trade barriers between the two countries. The trade barriers that have been hampering trade between the two include different tariff structures, customs delays, non recognition of origin, poor infrastructure and cumbersome immigration policies. The MOU is expected to facilitate trade, reduce costs and procedures and to minimize time taken to clear and release cargo through the borders between Uganda and the DRC.