He says this an opportunity that can be exploited by Ugandan coffee stakeholders. He thus urged Ugandan coffee exporters and processors to take advantage of this opportunity and establish presence across China.
"China accounts for 19% of the world's population. Over 300m Chinese are ranked as middle class with increased purchasing power.
On the other hand, Uganda is one of the 33 countries that have access to tax free imports into China," he noted.
Presenting at the event, Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA)'s MD, Mr. Emmanuel Iyamulemye said plans to brand Uganda as a producer and exporter of premium coffee in a bid to gain market influence are in the pipeline.
He urged coffee stakeholders on quality of coffee.
"The only way we can beat our competitors is through quality otherwise there is no way we can beat countries like Vietnam through quantity," he noted.
He added that Uganda is in the process of enacting an enabling law that will ensure that quality is respected right from the farm level.
Coffee is one of Uganda's major foreign exchange earners and the country exports between 3,000-4,000 tonnes of coffee per annum to China out of the 240,000 tonnes produced per annum.
At the same event Iyamulemye told the gathering that Uganda will be the portrait country at the China International Coffee Specialty Expo in March 2020. This gives Uganda an opportunity to position itself on the Chinese and Asia Pacific market, through increased awareness, visibility and market penetration.