The Tanzanian government has pledged continued support to Chinese investments at the 2019 Tanzania-China High-level Investment and Business Environment Dialogue in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam on April 17, 2019.
The Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for Investment, Angellah Kairuki, said Chinese investment has had and will continue to play an important role in helping us reach our goal of attaining a middle-income country status by 2025.
She said as the two countries marked 55 years of diplomatic relations this year, Tanzania was committed to continuing working closely with China, particularly through mechanisms within the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation that promotes government and private investments. However, it is unavoidable that some misunderstandings may occur in the rapidly growing and wide-ranging economic relations and trade, she told the event.
“Even so, it is my sincere belief that cooperation and common development will continue to represent the main trend.” “I wish to use this opportunity to urge all of us here present that when problems occur, we should not hesitate to seek appropriate solutions as equal partners through consultations and dialogues with the view to further expanding mutually beneficial cooperation,” said Kairuki.
The minister said Tanzania will strive to ensure ease of doing business by addressing delays in the issuance of work permits and residence permits. Wang Ke, the Chinese ambassador to Tanzania, said the dialogue was a good beginning for the two countries to strengthen communication on investment and business policies.
“If such dialogues can be institutionalized, the Tanzanian government would know better the wishes and appeals of Chinese enterprises in Tanzania, and the Chinese enterprises would better adjust themselves to the new policies of Tanzania,” she said. She said recent years have witnessed steady development of bilateral relations between China and Tanzania, especially the fruitful cooperation in economic and trade fields.
The bilateral trade volume in 2018 reached about Tshs.8.9 trillion ($3.9 billion, registering a year-on-year growth of 15 percent, said the Chinese envoy, who added that China has been the largest trading partner of Tanzania for three consecutive years. Up to now, she said, China’s total investment in Tanzania has exceeded Tshs.16.1 trillion ($7 billion), which made China the largest foreign investor in Tanzania.
Wang said at present, over 200 Chinese companies were making investments and operating in Tanzania, adding that China was also the largest project contractor in Tanzania with investments ranging from infrastructure, mining, agriculture to manufacturing, hotels, real estate and banks. Noting that this year marks the 55th anniversary of the establishment of China-Tanzania diplomatic relations, Wang said the Chinese embassy in Tanzania will continue fulfilling its obligations by building connections and facilitating participation in China-Tanzania cooperation.
The China-Tanzania high-level dialogue on investment and business environment was aimed at providing a platform for the Tanzanian government to publicize, introduce and promote its investment policies and business environment and to facilitate investment, project contracting and trade business operations of Chinese companies in Tanzania.
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