DAR ES SALAAM: PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan and her Romanian counterpart, Klaus Iohannis have agreed to continue taking collaborative measures to deepen their ties in strategic areas for mutual benefit of both nations.
At the State House in Dar es Salaam on Fridayday, the two leaders made their commitments shortly after holding official talks, followed by a joint press conference.
Their discussions, according to President Samia, were centred on various issues of importance to both nations, including ways to increase trade and investments.
“The Tanzania-Romania relationship began in May 1964 and Romania has become our partner as a country as well as an EU member.
“This visit is very important for the relationship between our two countries, this is the first tour by a head of state from Romania to Tanzania,” President Samia said.
The two Heads of States also witnessed the signing of two Memoranda of Understanding (MOU), the first one is between the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Romania which particularly aim to promote cooperation in the areas of disaster management and international humanitarian.
The second one was between Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) and Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Science (AFS). This is in particular to promote and encourage economic, scientific and technical cooperation in the field of agriculture and environment.
President Samia stated that they have also discussed the prospects available in the health sector and medicine production, agricultural product processing, opportunities to exchange experiences in the agriculture and mining sectors, as well as disaster-response areas.
“We have also discussed broadening the scope of scholarships, particularly in the medical and pharmacy fields. Romania has committed to offer 10 scholarship opportunities for Tanzanians in the fields we select, but we will also offer 5 scholarship opportunities for young Romanians in the fields they select out of reciprocity,” she stated.
According to her, the step will contribute to the efforts to build the capacity of human resources and improve services in various sectors.
The relationship between the two countries in the trade and investment sector, where they have been conducting business but the trade balance has gotten smaller compared to the prospects available, is one of the other areas of collaboration that they have discussed, she said.
“So we have talked more about promoting business, looking at the areas we can work together, inviting Romanian businessmen to come to Tanzania or Tanzanians to go to Romania to discuss and see which areas they can work together,” President Samia explained.
As stated by President Samia, they have also talked about ways to improve their relationships on international forums, as well as international cooperation platforms.
President Samia said Tanzania has asked for Romania’s support for its agenda on green energy and clean cooking in the upcoming COP28 Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“Tanzania and Romania signed a political dialogue agreement in 2018, but in 2019 Covid came but after that came the war between Ukraine and Russia, but in our talks, we have agreed now to start a dialogue meeting and see how we go forward to develop our relations and partnerships, “President Samia said.
For his part, President Iohannis said during their discussion they have established a series of priorities to be pursued by the authorities of the two countries in the immediate next period.
According to him, Tanzania is a valuable partner in Romania’s strategic approaches to its African partners.
“I shared with the President Romania’s vision for revitalising our relations with African nations, in the context of Romania’s recent adoption of the National Strategy for Africa.” Tanzania is an important partner in our country’s strategic objectives with African partners,” he said.
Mr Iohannis further said they have a solid foundation for expanding their bilateral relations and have agreed to develop cooperation in areas of crucial importance to both Romania and Tanzania, such as education, civil protection, agriculture, forestry, IT and cyber security.
“In this sense, I welcome the signing of MoUs that aim to intensify bilateral cooperation in the field of disaster risk management and international humanitarian assistance, as well as scientific, economic and technical cooperation in the field of agriculture and the environment,” he said
He added, “We found that we also have a number of Romanian entrepreneurs in Tanzania, active especially in the field of tourism,”
