President Yoweri Museveni has instructed the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives and the Ministry of Agriculture to find land to promote the cultivation of rubber, which is an important raw material for the production of medical supplies.

"The Minister of Industry should keep in touch with agriculture on the issue of rubber planting. Because this is the connection-rubber is agriculture, it is connected to the petroleum industry, and the factory is connected to the health department," Museveni said.

Mr. Museveni delivered a speech after the official start-up of East African Medical Vitality (EAMV) on Saturday. This is a Ugandan local company that produces high-quality, latex, powder-free medical gloves (for inspection and surgery), which are used in health facilities. Important medical consumables.

President Museveni said that rubber plantation will save a lot of money for importing medical supplies and raw materials. He congratulated East Africa Medical Vitals for the initiative.

"This is an effort to substitute imports. Stop buying things you can make yourself from others," he added.

The state-of-the-art manufacturing plant located in the Namanve Industrial Park can produce more than 10,000 gloves per hour and approximately 95 million gloves per year, ready to supply East Africa and the COMESA market.

According to Ben Kavuya, executive director of East Africa Medical Vitals, they imported latex from Malaysia-the raw material used to make surgical gloves and condoms-and added that in the future, the country needs to introduce rubber cultivation in this industry, he said. There will be a ready market and employment opportunities for many Ugandans.

Ms. Evelyn Anite, Minister of State for Investment and Privatization, stated that the Uganda Development Bank (UDB) failed to complete the task of rescuing local manufacturers, even if the government injected 1 trillion Ugandan shillings, its purpose is to support the production, processing and manufacturing of necessities to make The country is resilient to supply chain disruptions related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We have summoned the board of directors and management of the Uganda Development Bank to explain to us, your Excellency, if they do not give a clear explanation, we will ask you to let them leave because they have not completed their tasks," said Anit. Aroused cheers from the audience.

Prior to this, Kavuya complained about the bureaucracy involved in obtaining funding from UDB, which is not conducive to the speed required for fast-growing companies to remain competitive.

“When we applied for funding from UDB in early 2019, our application was not approved and UDB never responded. Since UDB did not respond, we contacted the East African Development Bank (EADB) and received it at an 8% interest rate. A loan of US$6.3 million. This is similar to a service provided by a commercial bank. We have no choice but to accept this expensive loan. We must start and be part of solving Uganda's health challenges," he said.

Earlier, President Museveni and dignitaries visited the factory and witnessed the production and packaging of medical gloves. He promised to solve the problem of industrial power outages and improve the road network in the industrial park.

"We have excess electricity, more electricity than consumers. The only thing we are trying to do is to reduce prices by cutting UMME. UMEME should exit because they make the cost expensive," Museveni said.

Mr. David Bahati, Minister of State for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, officials from Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), Ministry of Health, National Drug Administration (NDA), National Medical Store (NMS) and business community attended the ceremony.