NEW FIBERBOARD FACTORY IN OFFING

AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Green Gold Treasurer (GGT), a sister Company of the National Development Corporation (NDC) is set to invest in tree residues’ processing, for production of medium density fiberboard (MDF) in Iringa Region.

It is a 31 million US dollars’ worth investment, whose operations are set to take-off in the near future, aiming mostly at increasing the value chain of the forest products, said the Company’s Manager, Mr Said Tunda yesterday in the on-going Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) exhibitions.

The Company’s production capacity is 130,000 cubic metres per month, wherein some countries, including China and UK have started to order for the whole monthly produced Tanzanian MDF, said Mr Tunda.

‘‘However, we rejected the order because of doing so, means Tanzania will continue importing the furniture while our target is to make the country a hub (of furniture). What we asked them is to introduce furniture factories here in the country but not exporting our raw materials, he said, affirming that: Some reports show that in 2015, Tanzania had imported 258 million US dollars’ worth furniture while Kenya was 369 million US dollars.

The Presence of the MDF factory therefore will automatically encourage the introduction of local furniture industries domestic consumption and exportation (of the furniture and not raw materials).

Exportation is possible as GGT has conducted research and found that local consumption of MDF is only between 30,000 and 40,000 while the company is able to produce over 100,000, said the Manager.

The factory will also lead into a decrease of the imported MDF price, from the current 60,000/-for a-18mm (8×4 sizes) to 18,000/-said the Manager.

It was further noted that over 200 direct employment opportunities will be created for locals, plus furniture manufacturing training which will be offered in all GGT furniture industrial parks in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma and Mwanza Regions.

The training will be offered by GGT in collaboration with the Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA, said Mr Tunda.

Permanent Secretary (PS) for Community Development issues in the Health Ministry, Dr John Jingu urged youth to grab the opportunity in the coming GGT investment, basing on the fact the government has been empowering them in various ways, including the Funds that have been distributed in all councils, to serve as capital to women, youth and disabled persons.

He affirmed that nearly 40bn/-has already been released to councils country-wide in this fifth-phase government for such groups, adding that: ‘‘The government has also cleared investment environments through among others, removing unnecessary levies as well as easing accessibility of the important documents like licenses and various permits.’’