{"id":45542,"date":"2026-06-22T15:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T13:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/?p=45542"},"modified":"2026-06-22T15:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T13:39:11","slug":"second-national-trade-forum-opens-in-juba-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/22\/second-national-trade-forum-opens-in-juba-to-boost-regional-trade-and-investment\/","title":{"rendered":"Second national trade forum opens in Juba to boost regional trade, and investment"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sabri Dibaco<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Second National Trade Forum officially opened on Friday at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Juba, bringing together government officials, private sector leaders, development partners, and trade experts to explore strategies for enhancing South Sudan’s competitiveness and expanding its participation in regional and international markets.<\/p>\n

Held under the theme, “From Potential to Prosperity: Harnessing South Sudan’s Competitiveness for Regional Trade Integration,” the forum seeks to identify practical policy measures that will strengthen trade, attract investment, and accelerate economic transformation.<\/p>\n

Opening the forum, the Minister of East African Affairs, Pieng Deng Kuol, emphasised the need to increase investment in local production and value addition as a means of reducing the country’s heavy dependence on imported goods.<\/p>\n

He said strengthening domestic manufacturing industries would create employment opportunities, improve economic resilience, and help narrow South Sudan’s trade deficit.<\/p>\n

“Boosting local industries and adding value to our products will not only reduce imports but also create employment opportunities and strengthen our economy,” the minister said.<\/p>\n

Kuol noted that South Sudan possesses enormous agricultural and natural resource potential, but these advantages can only translate into sustainable economic growth through increased industrialisation and improved competitiveness.<\/p>\n

Speaking during the opening ceremony, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Labanya Margaret Mathya, called for greater efforts to create a conducive business environment capable of attracting both domestic and foreign investment.<\/p>\n

She stressed that improving the investment climate, encouraging innovation, and strengthening trade competitiveness are essential steps toward unlocking South Sudan’s economic potential and positioning the country as a competitive player within the East African Community (EAC) and the wider regional market.<\/p>\n

According to the minister, stronger collaboration between government institutions, the private sector, and development partners will be critical in addressing barriers to trade and creating opportunities for businesses to expand beyond national borders.<\/p>\n

The two-day forum is expected to generate practical policy recommendations aimed at improving the country’s trade performance while fostering partnerships that can support industrial development and economic diversification.<\/p>\n

Participants are expected to deliberate on key issues, including trade facilitation, industrialisation, value chain development, export promotion, infrastructure development, and strategies for improving South Sudan’s competitiveness within regional and continental markets.<\/p>\n

The discussions also focus on identifying measures to reduce the cost of doing business, enhance cross-border trade, and strengthen the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in driving economic growth.<\/p>\n

The forum comes at a time when South Sudan is seeking to diversify its economy beyond oil revenues and capitalise on opportunities presented by its membership in the East African Community (EAC) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Both frameworks provide opportunities for expanded market access, increased investment, and stronger regional economic cooperation.<\/p>\n

Organisers say the outcomes of the forum are expected to contribute to the formulation of policies that promote sustainable economic growth, enhance private sector development, and position South Sudan as an increasingly competitive trading nation within the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sabri Dibaco The Second National Trade Forum officially opened on Friday at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Juba, bringing together government officials, private sector leaders, development partners, and trade experts to explore strategies for enhancing South Sudan’s competitiveness and expanding its participation in regional and international markets. Held under[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,85,80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-markets","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/The-Minister-of-Trade-and-Industry-Dr.-Magret-Labanya-speaking-during-the-second-National-Trade-Forum-courtesy-photo.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45542"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45544,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45542\/revisions\/45544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}