Tanzania, China to strengthen trade, investment ties
TANZANIA: TANZANIA and China have vowed to utilise long-standing political and diplomatic ties in order to promote increased trade, investment and cultural exchange between the two nations.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Mr January Makamba, revealed through his X account while giving updates on his official visit to China.
Following a series of diplomatic meetings in China, Minister Makamba reaffirmed the two countries’ commitment to deepening their political and diplomatic relations.
To solidify their historic diplomatic relationship, Mr Makamba stated that China and Tanzania are expediting the signing of financing for two key projects: the North East Grid Transmission Line and Rural Mobile Broadband Coverage.
“We agreed to intensify the exchange of practical experiences in modernising key sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing. We will continue to prioritise strategic components of our cooperation, including defence,” the minister said.
Currently, the trade volume between the two countries stands at 9 billion US dollars (about 23tri/). Mr Makamba stated that China and Tanzania were finalising negotiations on the revitalisation of the TanzaniaZambia Railways (TAZARA) and the Mchuchuma-Liganga project.
He confirmed that Tanzania will continue to receive China’s support through SINOSURE and other mechanisms for financing strategic projects. SINOSURE is a statefunded and policy-oriented insurance company established and supported by the state to promote China’s foreign economic and trade development and cooperation.
Its main products and services include medium and long-term export credit insurance, overseas investment insurance, short-term export credit insurance, domestic trade credit insurance, bonds and guarantees, and reinsurance related to export credit insurance, accounts receivable management, and information consultation services.
According to Mr Makamba, the two countries will continue to work together within the framework of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and other key programmes, such as the Global Development Initiative and the Belt and Road Initiative, to pursue the country’s development ambitions.
Mr Makamba added that Tanzania and its counterpart are considering revamping the Dr Salim Ahmed Salim Centre for Foreign Relations. He also mentioned that in fostering global development, the countries agreed to promote the recently-adopted Dar es Salaam Consensus as an expression of the common aspirations of developing countries.
“We also agreed to continue efforts to depoliticise key global governance institutions,” he said.
