Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni hails role of Indians in building country’s economy

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

NAM Presidency Azerbaijan, has hailed India's role in creating and sustaining NAM and has lauded India's priorities for the Global South and G20.

Catch all the Ayodhya Ram Mandir Inauguration Live Updates

Addressing the NAM Summit President Yoweri Museveni also hailed the role of Indians in building the Ugandan economy and creating jobs.

Highlighting their remarkable achievements, Museveni stated, «I was asking people how many factories have been built by our Indian returnees. They told me about the 900 factories that they had built since they came back.»

Reflecting on Uganda's history, particularly the expulsion of Asians, a majority being Indian Ugandans, during Idi Amin's rule, Museveni acknowledged the regrettable mistakes made by the government.

The President stated, «NAM countries also sometimes make mistakes like here in Uganda.» He recalled the adverse consequences of Amin's actions, including the economic impact on his country.

During the reign of Amin in early 70’s, around 60,000 Indians/PIOs were expelled. However, after coming into power in 1986, Museveni invited them back. Several progressive steps like restoring properties seized from PIOs encouraged many of those Indians to come back and make a fresh start.
There are over 35,000 Indians/PIOs living in Uganda, of which majority are Indian passport holders. The Indian Community is mainly concentrated in Kampala and in the town of Jinja. Indians and PIOs play a leading role in the Ugandan economy, especially in manufacturing, trade, agro-processing, banking, sugar, real estate, hotels, tourism and information technology. They employ thousands of Ugandans, and are amongst the biggest taxpayers in the country.

Museveni emphasised