The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Bagiire Vincent Waiswa, on Thursday, 10th March, 2022, led the team of Uganda's Ambassadors on a familiarization and fact finding tour of industries in Lugazi and Jinja Industrial Parks. The Ambassadors are in the country for the annual Ambassador's conference. The envoys visited the SCOUL Sugar factory in Lugazi and the Cable Corporation Ltd located nearby. They were conducted around the two factories and had on the spot discussions with the management that briefed them of the current production capacities and the challenges they are facing, in particular, long term financing, skilled manpower and markets for their products. SCOUL today produces some 160,000 tons of Sugar; substantial amounts of Ethanol and Molasses; and 30 Megawatts of electric power some of which is uploaded onto the national power grid. The Ambassadors also visited the Kiira Motor Corporation (KMC) located along Kamuli road, in the eastern part of Uganda. They were warmly welcomed by the leadership and management of Kiira Motors Corporation, who briefed them of the vision and progress of the ongoing massive construction works expected to be completed by end of 2022. Kiira Motors Corporation has so far produced nine diesel and electric busses with capabilities for long distance and urban passenger carriages, respectively. When completed, the Corporation plans to produce up to 50000 busses per year destined for local, regional and international markets. The flagship undertaking by the science and innovation Ministry under the office of the President of the Republic of Uganda, is indigenously owned, 96% by the Government of Uganda and 4% by Makerere University, Kampala. The company plans to localize the Automotive Industry Value Chain for domestic value addition. The Permanent Secretary, on behalf of the Ambassadors, thanked the Management of KMC for their excellent work and promised that the Ministry and Uganda Missions abroad will do their level best to seek for sustainable partnerships and markets for the state of the art busses being produced by company. Source: Public Diplomacy Department, MOFA Source