KIGALI - The East African Community (EAC) will hold the first-ever Lake Victoria Basin Investment Forum, scheduled to take place in Mwanza, Tanzania from December 5 – 8 this year.

The Lake Victoria Basin Commission is a specialised institution of the EAC created to coordinate the sustainable development agenda of the Lake Victoria Basin.

According to the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr. Tom Okurut , the forum to be held under the theme "Realising Socio-Economic Benefits from Investing in the Lake Victoria Basin” will bring together 1,000 regional and international business and government leaders do discuss opportunities in six sectors.

These include; Transport and Communication, Tourism, Agribusiness and Fisheries, Trade and Industry, Investment-led Research; and Mineral Resources in the Lake Victoria Basin.

"There is untapped potential in almost all the sectors. There are opportunities in investing in water transport. Minerals in the basin should also be exploited for value addition and this will create employment,” Okurut told reporters, Friday, in a press conference in Kampala.

The Lake Victoria Basin was declared a regional Economic Growth Zone of the five East African Community Partner States, which must be developed in a sustainable and coordinated manner.

Flanked by Charles-Martin Jjuuko, the Commission’s Communications and Development Awareness Officer, and Maggie Kigozi, the head of the Uganda Investment Authority, Okurut said that despite the rich and fertile resources that surround the basin, little had been done to fully exploit them.

The basin covers an estimated 194,000 square kilometres and boasts of a market potential of US$40 billion and a wealth of resources of economic importance.

The forum is being jointly organized with investment promotion agencies from all the EAC partner states.

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