OPENING SPEECH BY HON. KASSIM MAJALIWA MAJALIWA (MP),
PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA DURING
THE TANZANIA – JAPAN PUBLIC – PRIVATE QUALITY
INFRASTRUCTURE CONFERENCE HELD AT HYATT REGENCY KILIMANJARO HOTEL IN DAR ES SALAAM ON 14TH JANUARY, 2016
Honourable Takatoshi Nishiwaki, Vice Minister for Lands, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of the Government of Japan;
Your Excellency Masaharu Yoshida, Ambassador of Japan in Tanzania;
Honourable Eng. Edwin Amandus Ngonyani (MP), Deputy Minister for
Works, Transport and Communication;
Honourable Ministers;
Honourable Batilda Burian, Ambassador of Tanzania in Japan;
Honourable Permanent Secretaries;
Government Officials from both Tanzania and Japan;
Private Sector Members from both Tanzania and Japan;
Distinguished Delegates;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Distinguished Delegates,
First and foremost I would like to express my appreciation to the organizers
of this conference for extending an invitation to me to officiate the opening
of the conference on Tanzania - Japan Public - Private Quality
Infrastructure. This is a very important day for our two countries of
Tanzania and Japan where as just in a few hours to come, delegates from
both countries will be able to share and exchange their experience in the
aspect of Quality Infrastructure.
On behalf of the people and Government of the United Republic of
Tanzania and on my own behalf, I wish to extend a warm welcome to all of
you to Dar es Salaam. Also I wish to extend a special welcome to all
foreign delegates to Tanzania the land of Kilimanjaro and Spice Island of
Zanzibar.
Distinguished Delegates
This conference on Public–Private Quality Infrastructure is a manifestation
of strong cooperation between our countries and it provides an opportunity
for experienced Contractors, Consultants, Business and Trading
companies and Engineers from Japan to exchange and share experiences
and technology as well as networking with Tanzanian companies.
Distinguished Delegates,
Tanzania is one of the fastest growing economies in the African continent
whereby the average GDP growth in the last five years has been about 7
percent. It shares borders with eight countries of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda,
Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique
whereby out of the eight neighbours, six are land linked. Due to this
strategic geographical location of Tanzania, the Port of Dar es Salaam is a
major international gateway to these Land linked countries. Furthermore,
other transport infrastructure in Tanzania such as roads, railways, airports
and pipelines play a vital role in facilitation of trade and transport between
the country and its neighbouring countries.
Tanzania also participates in regional co-operation and trade through the
East African Community (EAC), Southern Africa Development Community
(SADC) and EAC-SADC-COMESA Tripartite Free Trade Area. All these
give Tanzania a special opportunity as land located area for a good
infrastructural and construction business.
Distinguished Participants,
Over the recent years, the Governments of Tanzania and Japan have been
working together in a number of programmes which aimed at strengthening
co-operation and improve socio – economic development of our people.
Japan, that has a state-of-the-art technology and experience in
infrastructure development, has been of great help in assisting Tanzania
develop its infrastructure.
To achieve sustainable economic growth, the Government of Tanzania has
put forward various guiding policies and programmes as a key tool to attain
desired goals and objectives. These policies and programmes include
Tanzania National Development Vision 2025, National Strategy for Growth
and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP II) known in Kiswahili as MKUKUTA II,
Transport Sector Investment Programme (TSIP) and Long Term
Perspective Plan, Five Year Development Plan.
Also we have Election Manifesto for the Ruling Party, Public Private
Partnership (PPP) Policy, the Construction Industry Policy, National
Transport Policy and National Information and Communication
Technologies Policy.
Strategic location for land locked countries
Distinguished Participants,
As mentioned before, Tanzania is a transportation gateway to six land
linked countries namely: Malawi, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and
Democratic Republic of Congo. Therefore, the Government of Tanzania
aims at improving its roads, railways, airways, waterways, pipelines and
Information Communication Technologies (ICT) networks in order to
facilitate growth of national economy as well as facilitation of transport and
trade with these countries.
Transport infrastructure
Distinguished Delegates,
Regarding transport sector and infrastructure, Tanzania has a total of
87,581 km of classified road network. Due to available policies and various
initiatives implemented by the Government, in the last ten years (20052015) a total length of 17,762 kilometers of roads were at various stages of
implementation.
Currently, Tanzania has two railway systems; Central Line with a network
length of 2,706 km and Tanzania – Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA)
system with a length of 975 km. Regarding ports, there is a number of sea
ports on the 700 km long Indian Ocean coastline with major ports of Dar es
Salaam, Tanga and Mtwara and inland ports of Mwanza, Bukoba,
Kemondo Bay, Musoma, Kigoma, Kasanga Port, Itungi and Mbamba Bay.
Distinguished Delegates,
Tanzania has major airports namely: Julius Nyerere International Airport
(JNIA) in Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA), Zanzibar
and Mwanza. Also there is a total of 368 aerodromes which serve air
transport in the country. Pipeline transport in Tanzania is used to transport
crude oil products from Dar es Salaam to Ndola refinery in Zambia, with
total distance of 1,750 km. Pipelines comprise transport of gas from
Songosongo to Dar es Salaam (232 km) and from Mnazi Bay (Mtwara) to
Dar es Salaam (542 km).
ICT Policy and Infrastructure
Distinguished Participants,
The government acknowledges the broadband readiness by implementing
a National ICT Infrastructure Development programme guided by the
National ICT Policy of 2003 which is now in extensive review to meet
current demands of technology. The Government has made significant
progress in enabling more use of ICT through improving National
Broadband connectivity envisaging massive use of ICT services.
Through our National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) we are already
connected to two major submarine cables of SEACOM (July, 2009) and
EASSy (April, 2010) extending the connectivity to the neighbouring
countries of Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia and Kenya through high
capacity cross-border virtual stations.
Conducive Business Environment
Distinguished Participants,
The Government of Tanzania has already put in place conducive business
environment to enable investors establish their businesses in the
country. For instance, establishment of the Tanzania Investment Centre
(TIC) has provided a significant impact for investment in the country.
Our expectation from this conference is for local companies to conduct
situation analysis and learn from Japanese companies. I believe that the
learning process would be effective if joint ventures would be formulated
between local companies and Japanese companies; by doing so, local
companies will be able to enhance technical and managerial skills as well
as innovative capacity.
Distinguished Delegates,
On the Government side, there is a number of infrastructure projects that
have been identified for implementation under traditional and PPP
arrangements. When bids for these projects are advertised we urge
Japanese Companies to use that opportunity to bid in Joint Venture with
Local Firms. It is our hope and desire that holding of this conference will
translate into improved partnerships and increased trade between the two
countries.
Business Matching
Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have been told that there will be a business matching whereby delegates
will have an opportunity to meet one by one, sharing and exchanging ideas.
It is necessary for Tanzanian companies and business people to take
advantage of the opportunities emerging from this conference. Let us aim
towards having quality infrastructure that will boost the economy. Transport
Infrastructure is key for agricultural activities, trade, gas, coal and iron
industries.
Private Sector contribution to the investment especially on roads
construction and transport in general is crucial and big value in improving
the life standard of our people. It is my expectation that through this
conference delegates will come up with ways in which transfer of
technology can be effectively carried out in order to eventually have a
competent and innovative workforce and for the wellbeing of our people.
Conclusion
Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
In conclusion, let me once again thank the organizers of this conference for
inviting me to officiate the opening of this important conference. With these
remarks I now have the honour to declare that the conference on
Tanzania-Japan Public-Private Quality Infrastructure is officially
opened.
Thank you for your attention.