Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa
is the best investment destination as the country has a conducive business environment, stable regime as well as political and macroeconomic stability.
The Premier said Tanzania had all the factors that investors
require, including an educated labour force, big market and a
facilitative government.
Majaliwa was speaking in Dar es Salaam during the second
Tanzania—Vietnam Business Forum that coincides with a three-day official
visit by Vietnam President Truong Tan Sang. The forum was organised by
the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), Tanzania Investment
Centre (TIC) and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).
The PM said there were abundant untapped investment opportunities
in the country, mentioning oil and gas, livestock, tourism, agriculture
and agro processing as some of the sectors that investors could target.
He said there were many opportunities in fishing and fish
processing as the country has a territorial sea of 64,000 square km,
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covering 223,000 square km and 1,424 km
coastline along the Indian Ocean.
“Tanzania’s demand for meat is expected to triple by 2030 as more
than 700 metric tonnes of quality meat is imported annually. Less than
five per cent of produced hides are processed to leather,” said
Majaliwa.
He also noted that there were untapped opportunities in the energy
sector that included power generation, transmission and distribution. He
said investment in the sector was crucial as the country’s energy
demand was expected to grow by five per cent and 8.5 per cent each year
for the next five years. “Our laws have been revised to allow the
private sector to actively participate in the industry,” he noted.
He said Vietnamese investors should consider Tanzania their next
investment destination on agriculture and agro-processing as the country
has 43 million hectares of arable land of which 1 million is irrigable.
He said value addition was encouraged through establishment of
processing and packaging facilities for agricultural crops for the
domestic and export market.
The PM noted that various economic reforms in the past ten years
have largely contributed to the rapid growth of GDP, low inflation and a
stable foreign exchange position. He said the average GDP growth rate
was 7 per cent while inflation dropped to 5.3 per cent in June 2015
compared to 16 per cent and 8 per cent in 2012 and 2013.
Addressing the forum, Vietnam President Truong Tang Sang stressed
that economic and trade relations between the two countries would remain
intact, saying long term programmes were needed to realise the
targeted goals.
Sang said that agriculture, trade and communications should be the
core areas of cooperation as Halotel has so far opened the doors.
“Tanzania is among a few countries that cooperate with Vietnam in
doing business. We are ready to export and import key products from
Tanzania,” President Sang noted, adding that to enhance cooperation
there should be a stable exchange of business information between the
two countries.
Earlier, TPSF chairman, Dr Reginald Mengi, said the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) signed between TPSF and Vietnam Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (VCCI) will pave the way for closer collaboration in many
areas such as ensuring ease of access to and sharing information.
Dr Mengi said the MoU will deal with identifying obstacles
inhibiting the expansion of economic cooperation and recommend ways and
means of their removal to respective governments.
“Tanzania is ready for business and ready to partner with their
counterparts in Vietnam. The government is accelerating efforts to
create a sustainable friendly business environment to ensure the private
sector enjoys a favourable investment climate and protection of their
interests,” said the TPSF boss.
According to Dr Mengi, trade between the two countries has remained modest and has failed to meet its potential.
