Bujumbura - Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza has invited Ugandan manufacturers of construction materials to invest in his country.

Nkurunziza invited Touring Roofings, which was carrying out reconstruction work, to open shop in Burundi. He also assured the Ugandan business community that Burundi was ready to do business with them.

�This is the type of quality we would like to have in our country too. I would encourage and welcome the prospect of you setting up a factory in Burundi, such that our construction industry can also benefit,� he said.

Roofings chairman and managing director Sikander Lalani said their exports to Rwanda, Burundi, the eastern DRC, southern Sudan and northern Tanzania had grown from $600 000 in 1996 to a $15mn in 2005.

�Our projection for 2006 is $18mn. Burundi will account for more than 20 percent,� he said.

He said Roofings had invested in modern technology, which had helped maintain quality in the domestic and regional market.

�As part of its corporate responsibility, Roofings always adheres to ethical practice in all its business dealings,� he said.

Roofings produces roofing sheets, electro-welded tubes, open profiles, nails, reinforcement fabrics, chain links and barbed wire.

Meanwhile, Uganda and Burundi on Sunday signed an agreement for co-operation. Foreign affairs minister Sam Kutesa signed on behalf of Uganda while Burundi�s finance minister, Denise Sinankwa, signed on behalf of Burundi. The ceremony was witnessed by President Yoweri Museveni and President Pierre Nkurunziza at state house in Nakasero.

The state house said the two presidents re-affirmed their determination to strengthen co-operation in the fields of human endeavour in both countries.

�They exchanged views on how to consolidate the existing relations between Uganda and Burundi through linkages for transport and communications, trade and finance, political cooperation, defence and security, law and order, education, health and capacity building,� it said. Nkurunziza also briefed Museveni on the situation in Burundi following the election of the new government and the signing of the ceasefire deal with the Palipehutu rebel group. -AND