PLANS are underway to review existing policies across various sectors of the economy, to ensure the strategies are linked and coherent in bridging limitations towards increased productive capacities, the government has announced.
The Deputy Minister for Investment, Industry and Trade, Mr Exaud Kigahe, made the revelation in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday, while gracing at the official opening of a two-day regional workshop on coherent strategies for productive capacities development in Africa’s Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
“The review of the policy will ensure that all sectors of the economy are integrated in line with the industrialization agenda being envisioned by our country.
As such, sectors such as agriculture, industry, energy, water, marketing and trade must be aligned with the industrialization plan through review of the policies,” Mr Kigahe said during a media briefing after the official opening of the regional workshop which drew participants from 11 countries.
The regional workshop comes on the heels of the decision by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) to select Tanzania, Rwanda and Burkina Faso as among three African countries which have made progress in growth.
The three countries were thus chosen to take part in the coherent strategies for productive capacities which aims at forging an improved capacity among national government officials and stakeholders to formulate and implement holistic and coherent strategies and policies.
Through the above interventions, the countries will be able to build, utilize and maintain productive capacities for structural economic transformation to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“I, therefore, pray that this workshop acts as an opener to our eyes and minds to see what and where are the policies linked for bridging limitations towards increasing productivity in our respective countries,” he stated.
Mr Kigahe pointed further that full recovery from the pandemic will require coordinated efforts, including having in place appropriate policies and strategies and tools to enable the countries to develop their productive capacities.
“I believe many countries represented here have their trade and industry policies, which are tools towards achievement of great economic turn up if well prepared and implemented.
“Our government has a strong commitment to developing domestic productive capacities and transforming the structure of its economy from low to higher productive capacities within and across the economic sector,” he stated.
At the same occasion, the Executive Director of Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA), Dr Donald Mmari, said African countries have advantages which can enable them to catch up with other countries in terms of development, particularly those in Asia.
“We have natural resources, a ready market and all that it takes. We hope this workshop will give us solutions on coherent strategies to development,” he observed.
Dr Mmari noted that REPOA, as a local economic think tank, was involved in studying existing policies in various areas of production and gave its recommendations.
For his part, UNCTAD’s Chief of Trade, Poverty and Inequalities Branch, Mr Patrick Osakwe, said despite poverty and inequalities facing many African countries, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burkina Faso have been making significant progress in economic growth.
