THE private sector has been encouraged to take advantage of opportunities arising from President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s efforts in attracting foreign investors from various parts of the world.
The comments come following the recent trip by President Samia to Qatar, where she attended the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) and held talks with various leaders in Qatar.
The Tanzanian top leader also witnessed the signing of a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Chambers of Commerce of Qatar, Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar aiming at strengthening trade and investment relations.
President Samia also met and held talks with various leaders in the Middle East nation. She also addressed the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH).
The Acting Executive Director of the Tanzania Investment Centre, Mr John Mnali, taking part in a zoom meeting coordinated by Watch Tanzania yesterday to reflect on the trip, called upon the private sector to take advantage of such opportunities –stressing that the initiatives have boosted investments in the country.
“President Samia’s endorsement of the private sector in foreign countries specifically to the Qatar business community has helped to position us in the realms and opened the way…it is our responsibility to tap into the opportunities,” said Ms Mnali.
Citing the various agreements including the signing of a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Chambers of Commerce of Qatar, Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar aiming at strengthening trade and investment relations, he said it was critical the group makes close follow up and take necessary action.
Also, Zanzibar Deputy Minister for Health, Mr Hassan Khamis Hafidh, maintained that various institutions should collaborate to create a favourable environment for the investor to successfully execute projects within the country.
“Failure to take crucial measures which are in support of business and investment promotion, the aspirations may turn fruitless,” said Mr Hafidh.
He identified some of the areas featured in relation to the health sector including putting up factories responsible for the manufacturing of medicines which may help to cut dependency from foreign countries.
Other areas include embarking on exchange programmes for the two countries’ health experts considering that Qatar is more advanced, thus the country can borrow from their best practices.
Mr Hafidh noted plans of constructing a maternal ward, where the matter was still under discussion.
He disclosed that the issue of why private hospitals should continue offering services and not only acquiring profits also centered the discussion, agreeing that the health facilities should charge reasonable costs to benefit many in the societies.
On the other hand, Tanzania Ambassador to Qatar, Mahadhi Juma Maalim, stressed that the President’s trip to the country has reaped considerable benefits in the area of trade and investment.
“The name of Tanzania has been widely promoted in Qatar…as such many doors will be open and yield desirable fruits for the two countries,” he noted.
Tanzania has a close business relationship with Qatar, with trade exchange between the two countries estimated to have increased significantly in the last five years.
Statistics shows that in 2020, Tanzania exported goods worth 8.9 million US dollars (20.7bn/-) to Qatar, whereas the products exported include fish fillets and sawn wood.