VP Harris hails Tanzania efforts to build open economy
US Vice-President Kamala Harris has expressed optimism that Tanzania’s efforts to strengthen the country’s democracy and build an open economy were creating space for civic organisations and businesses to thrive, something which is attracting the attention of the US’s private sector.
This was revealed in an open letter, which was read by the US Ambassador to Tanzania Michael Battle on the occasion to mark the 247th Anniversary of the country’s National Day held on Tuesday evening in Dar es Salaam.
“These developments, coupled with the innovations taking off in Tanzania, some of which, I saw firsthand during my visit will promote growth and new areas for collaboration in the years to come,” stated VP Harris, indicating that the endeavors were good for the country and entire continent at large.
Although the US VP could not take part at the event in person, she sent her greetings and best wishes on the important holiday for Americans, extending appreciation for warm hospitality during her recent visit to Tanzania.
“I am reminded of the breadth and depth of the US-Tanzania partnership and people to people relations over the past decades. I look forward to what the coming decades in US-Africa relations will bring and I view our relationship with Tanzania as a shining beacon of what is possible when we collaborate as partners,” she said.
She disclosed that incredible progress attained by the two countries on shared priorities in areas including trade, investment to global health and climate change was a testament of what can be achieved in strong collaboration, stressing that the cooperation will serve as a model for the future.
For his part, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Ambassador Samwel Shelukindo, who was guest of honour at the occasion, conveyed best wishes for the celebration, noting that Tanzania celebrates with the socio-economic milestones achieved by the US and positive contribution made in the country’s developmental endeavours.
“It is gratifying that, as we commemorate the 247th anniversary of your National Day, we are also celebrating 62nd anniversary of bilateral relations between Tanzania and the US. The anniversary also coincides with Tanzania’s 62nd Independency celebrations in December this year,” said the PS.
He observed that the two historical events, speaks volume of Tanzania-US relations, that the relations are as old as the two nations.
Amb Shelukindo extended recognition on various initiatives made by the two countries fore-fathers into making the relations a reality, attributing that through various engagements and exchanges a lot has been attained over the years.
In terms of sustainable economic growth, he said the two countries have been working together in promoting trade and investment cooperation.
Tanzania has continued to offer attractive market for US investors and exporters, which includes exporting textile products to the US under the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) initiative.
According to him, despite of the arrangements, comparative and competitive advantages, the two countries have not utilised the opportunities to the fullest. The level of economic engagements between Tanzania and the US has remained marginal.
“Statistics shows that imports from the US have increased from 201.8 million US dollars in 2017 to 215 million US dollars in 2022. Similarly, in the recent years the total export from Tanzania to US has increased from 9.7million US dollars in 2017, to 49.5 US dollars million in 2022,” the PS noted.
On investment, it is pleasing to note that from 1997 to 2023, US has made successful investments in Tanzania worth 4.8 billion US dollars in key strategic sectors of agriculture, energy, financial Institutions, human resources, manufacturing, natural resources, petroleum and mining services, telecommunication, tourism and transport. The investments have created more than 54,900 jobs in the country.
He attributed the successes to the deliberate measures made by the government to attract more business and investments to Tanzania and also enable Tanzanians to do more business with the US, by putting in place a conducive and friendly business environment.
Among other include the recent visit of President Samia to the US and that of Vice- President Kamala Harris, and the business fora organised, have brought optimism for increased trade and investment between Tanzania and US.
“The recorded trade volume between our two countries has shown an upward trend for the recent years,” he noted.
In his address earlier, Ambassador Battle expressed commitment to ensure the two countries seize opportunities that the future will bring in areas of trade and investment, bolstering peace and security and respect for the rule of law, democratic governance and human rights.
