AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), in collaboration with the government and other stakeholders, met in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday to discuss various issues pertaining to the formulation and implementation of the third National Development Plan for Five Years expected to be implemented from 2021/22 to 2025/26.
The move comes at the end of the implementation of the second phase of the National Development Plan launched in early 2016 and expected to be completed early next year. Its motto is ‘Promoting Industry for Economic Reform and Human Development’.
Speaking at the meeting, TPSF Acting Executive Director Zack Mbenna said the meeting was important as it provided an opportunity for them as key partners to present their ideas on what could be implemented in the plan to bring about development to the nation.
He said while the plan would be implemented starting from next year, it was important for stakeholders to highlight all key areas that could bring about productivity and seal gaps found in the previous plan.
“For Tanzania to develop, it needs new approaches and new ideas. In the implementation of the next plan we think the best way is to ensure local and international trade is given a special push,” said Mr Mbenna.
He noted that after the implementation of the current plan, which emphasised the establishment of industries what was needed was to ensure the production of enough products for foreign markets.
He said Tanzania had great marketing opportunities, including regional groupings like Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and East African Community (EAC) countries coupled with ports in the Indian Ocean, which gave it a wider scope of doing business globally.
Ministry for Finance and Planning Principal Engineer Omary Othman said the results of the implementation of the second phase of the development plan were expected to be tabled in Parliament once it officially started.
He said the strategy in the forthcoming development plan was expected to include the required policy and institutional changes to facilitate its implementation by involving public and private sectors.
Director General of the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (Sagcot) Geofrey Kilenga said agriculture played a key role in achieving the goal as it currently contributed 26 per cent of GDP, while more than 70 per cent of Tanzanians engaged in agricultural activities.
“We are grateful to the government for involving us in formulating the next development plan. With regard to agriculture, the country has the potential for becoming a food basket for other countries as it currently has sufficient food for more than 100 per cent.”
He added that involving big scale- and small-scale farmers would yield better results when the development plan started its implementation.
