Summary
· Tanzania has a lot to learn from the Southeast Asian country because despite sharing the same economic status during independence, Malaysia is now ahead development-wise
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s ambassador to Malaysia, Mr Ramadhan Dau,
says Tanzania can use institutions to attain its development goals in the same
way that Malaysia has done.
He names some of the
institutions that have played an important role in Malaysia’s development and
in poverty alleviation as the Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) and the Federal
Land Development (FELDA). Others are the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and
Tabung Haji.
Dr Dau said this during an exclusive
interview with The Citizen. He was responding to a question on Malaysian models
that Tanzania may use for people-centred development. Speaking on the models,
Dr Dau said the Malaysian government has introduced the Bantuan Prihatin
Nasional (BPN) bank, which parents use to open accounts for their children.
Dr Dau said parents would continue
depositing money into their children’s accounts until the latter are old enough
to continue making deposits on their own.
“Through the mutual funds, BPN
collects billions of dollars that are ultimately invested in the implementation
of development projects such as construction of roads, airports, ports,
bridges, electricity and several others,” he said.
“Basing on Tanzania’s population,
more money could be collected through this system that could be helpful in
stimulating the country’s economy and development,” added the envoy.
Another public institution involved
in land development is FELDA. This specialises in carrying out agricultural
projects connected to palm oil farming, which significantly boosts Malaysia’s
economy.
“FELDA is granted land by farmers
through local authorities for investment in different areas, such as palm oil
farming. Farmers who have granted their land to the company become its
shareholders. The institution’s responsibility is to provide capital for the
joint project,” he said.
“Cultivated palm oil is harvested
and processed in a pre-existing processing facility, with the two parties
splitting profits at the end of the year. Farmers receive shares according to
the size of land granted,” added Dr Dau.
He said a farmer could reap up to
$5,000 (Sh11.5 million) or $10,000 (Sh23 million) at the end of the year which
is a huge amount.
He said shareholders who invest in
FELDA, a public institution with a thriving economic capacity, have a better
chance of obtaining loans from various financial institutions.
“These loans enable them to invest
in other economic activities, thereby contributing significantly to poverty
alleviation,” he said.
The envoy, who doubles as the
long-serving NSSF director general said the EPF is similar to Tanzania’s Public
Service Social Security Fund (PSSSF), NSSF and the Zanzibar Social Security
Fund (ZSSF).
He said the funds with a vibrant
economic base sourced from workers’ and employers’ contributions aimed to
benefit the working group during retirement.
According to him, EPF invests the
money in projects that foster the nation’s economic prosperity.
“The institution has constructed
toll roads and invested in 10,000 MW of power generation projects. The
electricity is sold to the state power utility company, Tenaga,” he said.
According to him, a reliable supply
of electricity significantly attracts investment in different sectors,
ultimately stimulating economic growth.
Regarding Tabung Haji, the envoy
said that as a country with 65 percent Muslims, Malaysians are supposed to wait
40 to 60 years for the arrival of their quota to attend Hajj.
He said the institution is required
to ensure that citizens fulfil this important religious obligation by
collecting contributions from Malaysians from childhood.
“Parents begin contributing for
their children at birth, and children continue to contribute once they reach
maturity age. This makes Tabung Haji among the wealthiest institutions,” he
said.
Dr Dau added that because the money
collected is expected to be used many years later, it is invested in the
implementation of development projects such as roads, electricity, and others.
He said during independence in 1957,
poverty was at 85 percent in Malaysia and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per
capita at below $100 like Tanzania’s.
“However, the minister in the Prime
Minister’s Office said as of September 2022, Malaysia had only 136,000 poor
families, with targets afoot to completely alleviate poverty by 2025,” he said.
Malaysia has a population of 32
million, almost half that of Tanzania, and 300,000 square kilometers of land as
compared to Tanzania’s 945,000 square kilometers.
“The GDP per capita of Malaysia
stands at $15,000, as compared to the $1,100 that Tanzania is grappling with.
We have a lot to learn from Southeast Asia because, despite sharing the same
economic status during independence, we are now adversely lagging behind,” he
said.
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