Posted on September, 27, 2018 at 09:28 am
MORE than seven crops have secured markets in China and are of high demand as new investment opportunities arise in the Asian economic powerhouse, Tanzania Trade Development Authority (TANTRADE) Director General, Mr Edwin Rutageruka said.
He told reporters in Dar es Salaam over the weekend that the coffee, cashew nuts, ginger, tea, peas, and legumes had impressed Chinese traders during 15th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) 2018 held last week in Nanning, Guangxi in China where Tanzania was honoured as special partner country.
Tanzania delegation at the four-day exhibition was led by the Zanzibar Second Vice-President Ambassador Seif Ali Iddi, who served as Tanzania’s Ambassador to China in the 1990s. Mr Edwin Rutageruka said that they held various meetings during the CAEXPO with the sole purpose of searching for markets for Tanzania commodities from agricultural products and mining to attracting tourists.
“We went to the CAEXPO with display samples of some food crops such as coffee, cashew nuts, ginger, tea, peas, and legumes. And they loved the rich taste that our food crops have,” stated Mr Rutageruka. Tantrade also helped to organise 23 business companies to participate in the international business expo.
The expo involved over 50 businesspeople from China who intended to do business with Tanzania, he added. “China’s population is about 1.3 billion, with such a number it is one among the major markets in the world.
It is a huge market and cannot be compared to any other market,” he said. During the expo, Tantrade was able to get an investor who wants to invest in industry that processes cassava.
With four companies already in Vietnam, Focian wang ji Company Limited processes cassava and creates various cassava products such as starch for their cloth industries and ethanol, explained Mr Rutageruka.
“This investor will visit Tanzania November this year to see for himself various prospects in the farming industry and incentives that are found in the country.”
Apart from the investor, there are other investors who showed interest in investing in Tanzania. Tantrade was also able to acquire buyers to our food crops.
“Tanzania has been selling food crops in their raw form, but these investors are interested in already processed commodities like cashew nuts, coffee beans, dried and sliced ginger, processed cassava, honey and many more,” he elaborated.
Moreover, there is another Chinese businessperson who wants already processed cashew nuts.
“This businessperson even specified the size saying he wants (w320 and w240), and he is ready to purchase three thousand tonnes for starters at a very competitive price. This shows how serious these investors are,” he said.
He continued saying that, “however, the second investors we were able to meet want coffee beans. More than 10 companies have shown interest in buying Tanzanian coffee beans, and they didn’t disclose the amount they need though they said they need them in bulk.”
Pease is another food crop that has attracted a lot of investment.
“At first this crop had market in India but later on it was cancelled and now the market will shift to China.
And the investors have said for startup they want two thousand tonnes,” said Mr Rutageruka. Other food crops that have also attracted various investors are mbaazi and ginger.
Honey has also caught the attention of investors and brought market.
The investors were able to have a taste of Tanzanian honey and accepted to buy Tanzanian honey that is to be packed in 200-litre containers, he continued.
“We normally fail to send goods to China, hence I ask all the stakeholders including businesspeople, farmers, business officials from local government, business associations not to mortify us but to come up with various management systems that will enable us to get high quality commodities that are already processed and in bulk.
I am a little bit skeptical at the moment as I want to be able to provide high quality goods, and in the amount needed, no shortages should arise,” he recommended.
“I want us to utilise this market as a team, because individually it is impossible as they need various products and in bulk. This is the only way we can handle the market and provide more than enough products and maintain it,” he insisted.
He further urged all farmers and businesspersons to get in touch with Tantrade as the largest market has been unveiled, and we need a team that is ready to provide high quality goods, already processed and in bulk.
The business expo was at the Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Nanning, China which included investors, buyer groups and key enterprises from eight Asian member countries of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam and its neighbouring countries of Philippines, Singapore, Laos and Tanzania being the first African country to be honoured with the Special Guest Country designation.
Source: Daily News