Members of Parliament on the Tourism, Trade and Industry Committee led by the Minister of State for Cooperatives Hon. Fredrick Ngobi Gume on Friday March 2nd 2018 conducted a monitoring visit to the proposed construction site for both the One Stop Border Post and Border Export Zone at Mpondwe.
Mpondwe Border is one of the three Border points implementing the Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project (GTLF). The others are Bunagana in Kiroso district and Goli in Nebbi district, however, Mpondwe being the busiest border point in terms of trade activities. The project is aimed at facilitating cross border trade between Uganda and DR Congo at the three borders of Mpondwe, Bunagana and Goli. The project aims at increasing the capacity for commerce and reducing the costs faced by the cross border traders.
Through the Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project, the Ministry of Trade in collaboration with the Ministry of Works and Transport and the border agencies is constructing appropriate infrastructure that improves conditions at borders and increases capacity to trade together, put in place measures that simplify border crossing procedures especially the customs procedures and improve the standards of treatment of traders and officials.
With funds from the World Bank, Government has started preparations for the construction of a One Stop Border Post (OSPB) and a Border Export Zone/modern Border Market at Mpondwe to create a conducive environment for the cross border traders.