The Ugandan Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry (MTTI) and its affiliated institutions met in a roundtable workshop at Jinja from 1 to 3 December 2005.  The affiliated institutions are: namely Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB), Management Training & Advisory Centre (MTAC), Uganda Tourism Board (UTB), Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI), Uganda Commodity Exchange (UCE), Uganda Wild Life Education Centre (UWEC) and Uganda Wild Life Authority (UWA).

The workshop opening was taken care of by the Minister of State for Tourism, Trade and Industry, Honourable Nathan Nabeta. The Honorable especially thanked International Institute of Communication and Development (IICD) for their support and hard work.

At the Ministry level, the Minister was glad that websites were being put into use but believed that they should reach as far as the grass root level. He hoped that districts will be in the position to use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) appropriately to develop the sectors and was grateful for the fact that people are interested in the use for ICTs and he hoped that the workshop would develop outcomes that will be of use in integrating ICTs into the Ministry.

During the 3-day deliberation, the benefits of collaboration and knowledge sharing across the sectors Trade, Tourism and Industry and its affiliated institutions were emphasized while a common ICT policy statement was formulated and the start was made with the development of an associated ICT sector programme focussing on the identified needs. 

The common ICT policy statement starts with the vision “To maximize the application of ICTs to promote the Trade, Tourism and Industry for the benefit of all Ugandans” and will be refined, validated and disseminated in January 2006.

The participating institutes committed themselves to this “Sector ICT Policy formulation Round Table process” by availing full participation in the workshop follow up and validation activities.

Read the brochure on this Roundtable workshop and learn more about IICD’s support to the ICT policy, strategy and implementation plan for the sector of Tourism, Trade and Industry.