On February 20, 2025, Ramathan Ggoobi, Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, met Ambassador Zhang Xiangchen, Deputy Director-General of the WTO, at its Geneva headquarters.
Ggoobi, on a two‐day working visit, was joined by Deputy Permanent Representative Amb Arthur Kafeero, Joseph Enyimu, Commissioner for Economic Development, Policy and Research, and Moses Kabanda, Commissioner for Public Administration.
Ggoobi thanked the WTO for its steady support to Uganda. He briefed Ambassador Zhang on Uganda’s 10‐fold growth plan, which focuses on agro-processing, tourism, mineral resource development, science and technology transfer, and the creative economy. He said the meeting aimed to explore how the WTO could become a strategic partner in realising these goals.
He welcomed the support Uganda has received under the Enhanced Integrated Framework, which builds trade capacity and boosts productivity in sectors such as tourism. Uganda enjoys a favourable trade balance in the region as a land-linked country. Ggoobi sees great potential in intra-African trade to drive economic diversification and stabilise exports, although non-tariff barriers still pose challenges. Uganda is keen to achieve deeper economic integration and reach larger markets for its products.
In a lively discussion, Ggoobi and Ambassador Zhang tackled the green transition and digital trade. They agreed on the need to close the digital gap, especially in rural areas where internet access is limited and costly.
Ambassador Zhang applauded Uganda’s progress in digital transformation and its bold target for 10‐fold growth by 2040. He stressed the key role of e-commerce and digital trade in achieving this aim. Both sides agreed to work together to build an IT ecosystem that will let Uganda fully reap the benefits of digital trade.
Zhang noted that Uganda’s large youth population offers great promise for a creative economy. He shared how China leans on creativity and digitalisation, including using AI in agriculture, and confirmed that the WTO is ready to work with Uganda to meet these challenges.
