Africa-Press – Tanzania. PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan on Wednesday met with Chinese Business Chamber of Tanzania (CBCT), who assured her of their commitment and cooperation with the government, including increasing investments in the country In response, the Head of State reassured them that the government was fully committed to cooperating with investors and continue improving the investment climate for the greater interest of the two parties.
She said the government would work on all challenges facing the business and investment sector such as hardship in acquiring work permits, delays in payment, administrative bureaucracy as well as tax issues. “The government will also address challenges that rise on export and import of manufactured industrial goods as well as continue taking precautions against the spread of the Covid-19,” read part of the statement issued by the Directorate of State House Presidential Communications.
On their part, the CBCT delegation that was led by Mr Janson Huang, further assured President Samia that there are over 800 Chinese companies that are ready to invest in the industrial sector. A statement that was issued by the State House has it that the Chinese companies are planning to construct factories to manufacture phones, pharmaceutical products, car assembling plants as well as establishing industrial parks.
“This will go together with skills development programmes that will provide Tanzanians with opportunities to study in the Universities available in Tanzania and China,” reads part of the statement.
Adding: “They will study various programmes including engineering and tourism to be sponsored by the government of China and the CBCT.” The CBCT also conveyed their condolences to President Samia for the loss of the former President, the late Dr John Magufuli, who died on March 17th this year.
Already, President Samia has ordered sweeping reforms in the investment sector, as part of her government’s grand plan to further improve investment in the country. She made the directive recently during the swearing in of the newly and reshuffled permanent secretaries, deputy permanent secretaries and heads of public institutions in Dodoma, demanding that they work on all challenges hindering investment and business sector.
In her directives, the president ordered the investment docket under the Prime Minister’s Office to immediately establish a one stop centre in a bid to stamp out bureaucracy in issuance of services. This, according to the Head of State, would play a crucial role in attracting more foreign and local investors, increasing government revenue, creating employment as well as propelling the county’s economic growth.
Equally, the president showed concern on the unnecessary bureaucracy on handling investors at the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), issuance of work permits as well as use of force in collecting revenues. She said bureaucracies and improper ways of collecting tax were among key reasons for the collapse of businesses in the country.
Speaking on Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), the Head of State instructed that the taxman should collect tax diligently without harassing or scaring businessmen, for the sake of increasing the monthly collections. According to latest figures from Comtrade, the database of the United Nations with exports and imports statistics by countries and tariff codes, the trade volume between the two countries stands at 4 billion US dollars.
The data indicates that China’s total investment in Tanzania exceeds 7 billion US dollars, making this great East Asian nation the largest foreign investor in the country. China is taking a number of initiatives aimed at bridging the gap, a move that would also cement further the bilateral ties that the two friendly nations have been enjoying for a long time since the early 1960s.
