Posted on July, 31, 2019 at 10:57 am
TANZANIA and Egypt are set to strengthen their bilateral relations in all fields, especially economic, trade and other investment sectors. This was said by Arab Republic of Egypt Ambassador to Tanzania Mohamed Gaber Abulwafa on Egyptian National Day, which marks the 67th anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution.
He said bilateral trade between the two countries was still modest, even though there had been a 75 per cent increase in Egyptian exports to Tanzania in 2018.
“It is my belief that even though bilateral trade and investments have improved significantly in the past few years, we have only scratched the surface of the tremendous potential of cooperation that exists between our two countries,” he said.
Apart from several highlevel visits between both sides, he mentioned some of the bilateral links included the signing of the contract for the 2,115MW Hydropower Project in Rufiji implemented by two Egyptian companies (Arab contractors and Elsewdi Electric).
“The signing of the contract event that, was attended by the Egyptian Prime Minister in December 2018, marked a milestone in the new era of partnership between the two countries,” commented the ambassador.
“Our joint endeavours do not stop here. Rest assured that we will keep on exerting every possible effort and knocking on every possible door to further boost the Egyptian-Tanzanian relations in all fields.”
He said he had noticed with growing satisfaction an upward momentum in the bilateral links between the two countries, which stemmed as well from the shared vision of the political leadership of both Egypt and Tanzania.
For his part, Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Minister, Prof Palamagamba Kabudi, said the trade and investment sector was encouraging. “The volume of trade between our two countries has increased from 74bn/- in 2011 to 107bn/- in 2018.”
With regard to investment, Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) has to date registered eight Egyptian companies that have invested in Tanzania with a total capital of $887.02m and contributing to about 953 jobs.
“It is comforting to note that the successive leaders of our countries continue embracing and keeping hold of these relations and cooperation,” he said.
He explained that the two countries continued working together in different fields, including the Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) established in 1989.
“It gives me great pleasure to note that after more than 20 years since its second session held in Dar es Salaam in 1997, we have reactivated this commission and consequently held its third session in January, 2018.”
He explained that through JPC “our countries have established cooperation in many areas, including, industry, trade and investment, infrastructure, education, health, agriculture, science and technology, defence and security, energy and natural resources.”
He said over the years, Egypt had been an excellent partner to the government of the United Republic of Tanzania in supporting the education sector by offering a number of capacity building programmes.
“We receive an average of 120 short-term and longterm training programmes each year from Egypt, covering various fields of study, including diplomacy and health science, which have been helpful in building the capacity of our people.”
He explained that such efforts complemented the nation’s plan in realising the 2025 Development Vision’s objective to build a well-educated and learning society.
Source: Daily News