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try, we are exploiting the potential along the river Nile in and manage it in me most raiispaiciit dilL.! dL.UU11Lau1
a sustainable manner. Also, the other neighbouring coun- manner so that the revenues that will accrue from oil will
tries are doing the same. If we can interconnect our coun- be put in that fund, and the use of those revenues will be
tries on high voltage transmission lines, then we would be ploughed back into other sectors of the economy.
able to enter trading arrangements in a sustainable man-
ner and to share those resources sustainably. The issue of Uganda is an agricultural country, and therefore we are
transit of energy resources becomes critical. looking at modernizing our agriculture. Infrastructure
becomes very critical too - electricity, roads, the railway
Therefore, the subject dealt with at this forum is very ap- network, air travel, social services including schools, hos-
propriate. From what we have heard from the different pitals - those are areas where we need to plough back
countries across the world, transit of energy resources ap- these resources. And we've been doing it carefully, learn-
pears to be the way to go. The issue is how do you struc- ing from the best practices in order to avoid the pitfalls.
ture the rules to adjust sustainability engagements? Countries like Norway are our model. We've cooperated
with them very closely and they have supported us in the
Q: Do you find that the partners here are very willing to development of this fund. We are very happy with the
share ifyou ask for advice? direction that we are taking to ensure that this resource
Yes indeed. The interaction here is really open. I have brings lasting value to our society and to generations to
been listening to various presentations. They have the ex- come.
perience, so one can learn from them and avoid pitfalls.
This is indeed very useful for those who are new in the Q: The development of the oil and energy sector in your
field or who are planning to go into a similar arrange- country will need a lot of new engineers, new technical
ment. It is through such a forum where you can pick the persons. Have you done something in this field to encour-
best practices, and share your experiences with the rest of age people?
the membership. Definitely. Capacity building is very critical. We've come
up with institutions that are now training people. This
Q: You mentioned about the cooperation that you have has been done with support from our advocacy partners.
had in developing laws for an oilfund that you are going Norway is one of them. Now we can build the local work-
to set up. Could you please tell us more about it? force, and ensure that everyone is part of the develop-
In Uganda, we discovered commercial reserves of oil and ment process. Skills development is going on right now,
gas as early as in 1986. and we are trying to train people to have the appropriate
We are now in the process of exploiting those commercial skills so that when the process of production commences,
reserves and going into production. We have so far con- which we are now preparing for, they are also able to par-
firmed in place about 6.5 billion barrels and we have three ticipate.
international oil companies licensed.
Q: All that is very impressive, I have the feeling that you
We will come up with new laws for the upstream and are really taking off now.
midstream as well as the provision of an oil fund that Yes, indeed. We will be trying to trade our first oil by
has been embedded in the public health finance manage- 2020.

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INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMAT . DIVA
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