THE government is determined to address the challenges in doing business in Tanzania in efforts to improve the business environment that will promote trade and investments in the country.
Speaking at the launch of TradeMark East
Africa in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday evening, the Permanent Secretary
(PS) in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Prof Adolf
Mkenda, the government would continue with key reforms to remove hurdles
that undermine business in the country.
He said the government valued TradeMark
East Africa support to enhance trade and would tackle the challenges
identified so as to promote access to market, enhance trade environment
and improve business competitiveness of the country.
“We are willing to listen and share with
you our dreams and aspirations,” he said at the launching of the report
of the multi-donor funded aid for trade agency.
Prof Mkenda said addressing the
challenges in doing business was top in agenda for government action in
efforts to improve the business environment will help create a
foundation for sustained and inclusive economic growth and prosperity as
pledged by President John Magufuli during his election campaign.
“President Magufuli acknowledged that there were too many hurdles. He made commitment to open up space for trade,” he said.
TradeMark East Africa is supporting
Tanzania to boost prosperity through trade, various projects including a
port modernisation of eleven deep water berths and the rehabilitation
and upgrading of port access roads at the Dar Port, which will
significantly increase port access, especially for larger, modern
vessels, while improving movement and efficiency.
TMEA has also funded the construction of
four One Stop Border Posts in Tanzania, which are expected to
drastically reduce cross border times and spur trade in the region.
It supports the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, East Africa, Regional and International Cooperation to
implement a comprehensive framework for regional integration and
provides support to the private sector to enhance their competitiveness.
Other projects supported includes
enhancing women’s participation in trade. TMEA Board Chairperson Ali
Mufuruki said following on from last year, TMEA had strengthened its
governance structure with the appointment of a team of highly qualified
professionals to the Board of Directors.
“These individuals bring a wealth of
experience in various sectors including the private sector, government
and non-profit. This wealth of experience is a major asset for TMEA,” he
said adding that TMEA investors had also formed the new council to
support their work.
TMEA Chief Executive Officer, Frank
Matsaert, said some of the key results included significant decline in
clearance time for cargo destined to Kigali from 21 days to 4 days and
from Dar es Salaam to Kigali from 25 days to five days. The cost of
clearing a container has declined from close to 5,000 US dollars to
3,387 US dollars, he said.
“The results presented in this report
demonstrates our continued commitment to increasing intraregional trade
and building the region’s competitiveness.
These results reaffirm our ambition to
transform the lives of East Africans through supporting projects that
will increase prosperity for all in the region,” he said. TMEA had made
strides to support informal trade across borders, which is often the
lifeline of most rural livelihoods, he said.
“Since these traders do not use
available formal systems and structures for their transactions, it is
difficult for regional trade policy initiatives to have any significant
impact on their lives.
There is therefore a continued effort to ensure these economically disadvantaged populations have access to markets,” he said.
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