Chinese Government provides RMB 200 million grant for the construction of the Industrial Skills Training and Production Centre

Project narrative

In May 2015, when Yoweri Museveni visited China, President Xi of China pledged to help Uganda build a new Industrial Skills Training and Production Centre at Namanve Industrial Park. On December 16, 2015, Officer Chen Xi from Hu'nan Architectural Design Institute signed the design contract with his Ugandan counterparts. On December 2, 2016, Deputy Director-General of AIECO, Ai Yinfang, signed the implementation agreement with his Ugandan counterpart to construct the centre. The Chinese Government granted RMB 200 million for the project. The centre, situated on a 15-acre plot at Namanve Industrial Park and the first of its kind, will introduce modern manufacturing methods and practices into Uganda for youth skill development in order to address the increasing unemployment rate in Uganda, which rose to 2.28 percent in 2016 from 2.15 percent in 2015, according to Uganda's Bureau of Statistics. The groundbreaking ceremony for this project took place on January 25, 2018 and the center was opened on January 15, 2020.