Dar, Harare to further deepen ties
TANZANIA has pledged to continue strengthening friendship, including deepening bilateral ties with Zimbabwe.
According to Vice President Dr Philip Mpango, Tanzania will continue supporting the southern African nation in its efforts to have economic sanctions lifted to enable Zimbabwe recover from its economic crisis.
Vice President Dr Philip Mpango made the remarks on Tuesday when he held talks with Zimbabwe Vice President, (Ret) General Constantino Chiwenga.
Dr Mpango said that Tanzania values the traditional friendship between the two countries which has existed since the liberation struggles of the Southern African countries.
Tanzania will continue to strengthen and promote the existing cooperation and support the country in condemning various sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
The VP further said that Tanzania supports the construction of the African Liberation History Museum being built in Harare Zimbabwe, commending the country for its decision to write and preserve the important history of the Southern African liberation movements.
Dr Mpango further said that Tanzania intends to continue promoting business cooperation with Zimbabwe and other sectors including agriculture, tourism, investment , promoting Kiswahili and higher education.
On his part, the Zimbabwe VP who is also Health Minister said Tanzania has made a great contribution to Zimbabwe and the southern African countries in the liberation movement thus its support will never be underestimated.
He said that the two countries should focus more on economic cooperation by making the citizens exploit the opportunity of the existing cooperation to develop their economy, bring development to themselves and pass on the cooperation from generation to generation.
“Currently Zimbabwe is continuing with the construction of the road from Harare through Zambia which aims at reducing more than 300 kilometres in reaching the port of Dar es Salaam, so there is a need for strengthening the cooperation in mining, communication, agriculture and finance, defense and security sectors” he said.
He expressed his appreciation to Tanzania for supporting his country in opposing economic sanctions and supporting it in the construction of the African Liberation History Museum in Harare.
The retired Gen Chiwenga also said that the two countries should make good use of the available investment opportunities including the Free Trade Zone in Africa to bring development.
On February last year, Zimbabwe’s Minister for Minerals, Mr Wiston Chitando was impressed with how Tanzania was successfully managing to enhance the operations of the small scale miners.
The excellent political relations between Zimbabwe and Tanzania date back to the days of the liberation struggle. Since the attainment of two countries’ independence, the relations have continued to blossom.
It is however, stated that trade relations between Zimbabwe and Tanzania are not commensurate with the close political relations between the two countries.
