Best exporters to get awards

By Alex Balimwikungu
To recognise and encourage the business sector in exports, Uganda Export Promotions Board, (UEPB) has maintained the culture of organising the Presidential Exporters Award.

The prestigious event is on tomorrow at Kampala’s Sheraton Hotel. Over 30 product groups in 13 broad sector categories are vying for the awards.

This year’s theme: “casting the net wide; the regionalisation agenda,’ mainly focuses on the new integration of East Africa. It encourages our local exporters to look beyond our local markets and focus on the wider perspective, which is the region.

President Museveni will preside over function

Florence Kata, UEPB’s executive director says that the awards are designed to accord national recognition and honours to the best performing exporters.

“The specific objectives of the awards are to formally recognise the contribution of exporters to national economic development and prosperity, encourage higher, qualitative and diversified performance by exporters and to generate national consciousness and sustain the economy,” she says.

Kata explains that exporters are awarded under the categories of Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and certificates of recognition. She says the Gold awards and citation for the best sector or product performer goes to exporters with earnings above $2m while silver award and citation is for the runner-up in a sector or product with earnings of $ 2m or the first place winner in a category with earnings below $2m but above $ 500,000.

Kata adds that the bronze award will go to the special category winners while sponsored prizes will also go with some of the awards. She says winners are at liberty to use the awards for promotion and publicity purposes.

Candidates for the awards were short listed by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, and Uganda Export Promotions Board, based on export value criteria as captured by UBOS.

Kata says the panel of judges comprising public and private representatives evaluated visited the sites of the candidates and selected the final award winners. They were from UEPB, Private Sector Foundation of Uganda, Uganda Manufacturers Association, UBOS, Uganda Revenue Authority, Uganda National Bureau of Standards, National Environment Management Authority, Uganda Investment Authority and National Agricultural Advisory Services.

To qualify for the selection, an enterprise should be a legitimately registered business in Uganda and should have been engaged in the export business for the last two years.

Other weight parameters involved in the selection include, the value in US dollars of exports by the company, the price competitiveness in terms of value and volume, level and nature of the value addition and the total number of employees.

The rest of the criteria include the level of innovation and product adaptation (technology transfer), quality control, export market diversification, environmental consciousness, social responsibility and UEPB registration and activity participation.

The 30 product groups in the 13 broad sector categories considered for this competition are in line with the Traditional Export sector of Tobacco, Coffee, Tea and cotton. However the majority non-traditional exports sector to vie for the awards are categorised under:
-The Agricultural sector- Fish, cut flowers, cereals, spices, cocoa, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables, livestock and products.
-Manufacturing sector- soap, metal products, alcoholic drinks, plastics, building materials, wood and wood products, paper and printed materials.
-Minerals sector- gold and cobalt
-Arts and crafts sector-handicrafts
-Most diversified exporter
-Micro and small scale export sector
-Most innovative market strategy
-Organic exports sector
-Market Ambassador of the year
-Overall best exporter- “Exporter of The Year”