NEW INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION STRATEGY FOR TANZANIA AND DENMARK

The Minister of Finance, Hon. Dr. Mwigulu Nchemba (PhD) has assured Denmark of Tanzania’s readiness to work with the country through its new international cooperation strategy by engaging the private sector in its development plans to boost the economy and employment.

Dr Nchemba said this when he met and held talks with the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Climate Change Policy, Hon. Dan Jørgensen in the city of Dodoma.

Dr Nchemba said Tanzania has great investment opportunities in various sectors and called on companies, organisations and various institutions from Denmark to partner with the private sector in Tanzania to invest capital and technology so that both parties can benefit.

He said that the major focus of the Sixth Phase Government led by Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan is to ensure that the private sector is the one that is required to drive the country’s economy and that in order to achieve the plan, the government has undertaken major policy and legal reforms to improve the investment environment in the country.

Dr Nchemba mentioned some of the areas that require private sector participation, including the operation of the modern SGR railway, energy issues, agriculture and various other areas.

He said that Tanzania is ready to work with Denmark through its new cooperation programme, after suspending the decision to close its embassy in the country, where the country has planned to increase the level of funding and direct the funds to areas that will grow the economy, including energy, improving tax systems, agriculture, education, health, as well as supporting the private sector.

Dr Nchemba thanked Denmark for continuing its 60-year partnership, which in recent years has seen the two countries implementing projects for which Denmark has provided Tanzania with about 2 billion Danish kroner, equivalent to 646 billion Tanzanian shillings.

In addition, he said, Denmark, through its Development Agency (DANIDA), had provided more than 103 billion shillings from the proceeds of its investment of shares in CRDB Bank, which had been used to support the health sector through the Health Fund.

He also asked Denmark, through its insurance and guarantee agency (Danish Export Credit Agency), to participate in the construction of the remaining parts of the SGR project, given the importance of the project in promoting the economy and the well-being of the people who will use the railway together and increase the national income.

On his part, the Minister of Development Cooperation and Climate Change Policy of Denmark, Hon. Dan Jørgesen, congratulated Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan for the giant step the country has taken economically despite the various challenges the world is facing and that he sees Tanzania as one of the biggest economic countries in the future.

He asked Tanzania to advise Denmark on how to improve cooperation with strategic areas that the country wants to prioritise, especially in the field of investment and business, and to develop groups of young people in its new cooperation programme with African countries that his country is preparing and they expect it to be launched by President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who has been invited to visit the country.

The meeting was also attended by the Deputy Minister for Development of the Government of Denmark, Hon. Lotte Machon the Ambassador of Denmark to Tanzania, Hon. Mette Nørgaard Dissing-Spandet the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Dr Natu El-maamry Mwamba, the Ambassador of Tanzania to the Nordic Countries, Dr Grace Olotu, and the Honorary Ambassador of Tanzania to Denmark, Hon. Simon Mears, as well as other senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation and the Danish Government.

Tanzania Media