AfricaPress-Tanzania: PRIME Minister Kassim Majaliwa has pledged to continue creating a favorable environment for petty traders countrywide so that they operate without any interference.
Mr Majaliwa also ordered authorities responsible with the construction of market places to give priority to necessary infrastructures, which can accommodate the traders.
“The sector accounts for 27 per cent of the gross domestic product and accumulates a total of 3.1 million entrepreneurs which is equivalent to 23.4 per cent of the country’s workforce have.
“Petty traders are very crucial in contributing in the country’s gross domestic product as well as boosting the economy,” said Mr Majaliwa, while meeting some petty trade leaders in Dar es Salaam, yesterday.
He cited a report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade which shows that small enterprises have generated jobs, raised the economy as well as eradicated poverty in the country.
He attributed the meeting’s theme to “Petty Traders a Right Opportunity for Building the Economy” as a key for tackling the challenges facing petty traders in the country, and urged them individually to fulfill their responsibilities.
Considering the fact that petty traders are an important bridge in the realm of small, middle and upper class, the Premier urged the public to support their activities.
“All Council Executives should collect the statistics of petty traders in their respective areas to simplify the exercise of distributing petty trader’s Identification Cards.
“As for petty traders, these IDs are very important in legalizing their activities and in carrying out their businesses without facing any disturbances,” he said.
Mr Majaliwa also urged the traders to be patriotic and refrain from being puppets of traders, who evade tax by issuing them with goods without presenting authentic receipts.
