DAYS for people engaged in shoddy business deals are numbered as government envisages to put stringent measures in promoting local manufacturers by connecting them to international markets.
Prof Adolph Mkenda, Permanent Secretary
(PS) in-charge of Trade and Investments in the Ministry of Trade,
Industry and Investments, said here that the era where some people in
government chain used to sign controversial business contracts at the
expense of the country’s economy is gone.
He made these remarks when opening a
special workshop for the entrepreneurs and stakeholders in the Leather
Industry targeting to impart skills for the Small and Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) in investing in the sub-sector.
He said one of the Fifth Phase
Government top priorities is industrialisation and that leather
sub-sector is one of such priorities in the national economy. “The
government would like to see and promote genuine businesses and
businessmen with true passion in contributing to the economy and not
otherwise.
We are set to create genuine riches and
not conmen who used to trade using fake and controversial business deals
and contracts,” he said. He said to walk the talk, strategies are
underway for the local investors to be connected to foreign markets as
well as being provided with required expertise and capital for the local
businesses to compete in international markets.
He said while President John Magufuli
chose to select industrialisation as his top agenda during the
presidential campaigns, he meant it and now the implementation has
begun. Prof Mkenda said the leather sub sector was one of areas that
could produce the richest players in the Lake Zone and the country at
large, insisting that already foreign investors have shown interest and
are set to put up investment projects.
He was of the view that once the leather
sub- sector has grown enough to be able to satisfy the local market,
there will be no reason why Tanzania should keep on importing plastic
footwear and inferior leather products.
Besides promoting local investments and
supporting SMEs, Prof Mkenda said his ministry is also set to introduce
special campaign that will educate Tanzanians on the need to increase
consumption to the country’s leather products.
Earlier, the acting Director General of
the Tanzania Trade Development Authority Edwin Rutageruka said his
office was determined to support the Dar es Salaam Institute of
Technology, Mwanza Campus, which is a centre of excellence for training
in leather technology.
He said one of the challenges facing the
leather sub-sector was poor hides and skins, adding his office has now
launched training sessions on how to prepare quality skins.
According to Rutageruka, the Lake Zone
has been earmarked to host training programmes and other priority
projects on the sector to be followed by the Eastern and Western zones
respectively.
“With strategies in store, we will soon
be able to start marketing our own leather products locally and
internationally but focusing more on value addition and quality
assurance measures,” he said. Fifty participants are attending the
workshop from Lake Zone regions
No comments :
Post a Comment