Author: HECKTON CHUWA
AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Minister in Prime Minister’s Office responsible for Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and the Disabled, Ms Jenista Mhagama, has praised the Public Service Social Security Fund (PSSSF) for changing the direction of investment by engaging in those which are more productive.
According to her, apart from contributing a lot in the country’s economic well-being, the move by the PSSSF also responded well to President Dr. John Magufuli’s directive.
The directive focuses on all social pension funds to engaging in production-related investments so as to increase job opportunities as well as strengthening the national economy.
The minister made the remarks on Thursday in Moshi, in Kilimanjaro Region, while inspecting the ongoing construction of the Kilimanjaro Leather Industries Company Limited, at Karanga Prison in Moshi.
The project is been implemented by the prisons department on a joint venture basis with the PSSSF.
“Your decision to invest in this ongoing Kilimanjaro Leather Industries project will be more productive compared to other investments you used to engage in previously; in this type of investments you will be able to get good returns and make PSSSF sustainable and strong. “You will also create new contributing members because there will be new employment opportunities in your new investments, as well as improving the economic well-being of the nation,” she noted.
On the other hand, Minister Mhagama hailed the Kilimanjaro Leather Industries management for its decisions to start exploring markets for products which will be produced by the company after its launch in the near future.
“I am very pleased to find out that you have started opening shops which would be used to sell your products, thereby responding to the advice I gave you of exploring potential markets for the products which you will produce after launching the factory. I am taking this opportunity to urge you to focus on finding markets in SADC member countries,” she added.
The minister directed relevant authorities to organize a leather sector stakeholders meeting next month, which would focus on discussing issues related to the leather industry in the country.
She laid emphasis on the ongoing Kilimanjaro Leather Industries Company Limited mega project which she said would, upon its completion, be an example to reckon with as far as leather industries in Africa are concerned.
PSSSF Director General Hosea Kashimba said the pension fund had injected 136bn/- into the Kilimanjaro Leather Industries project which would create more than 3,000 new employment opportunities.
“Apart from responding to President Magufuli’s appeal for us to invest in projects which are more productive, this is also our institution’s contribution to the government’s policy meant to improve the industrial sector in the country,” he said.
