Tanga sets plans to improve regional economy

Vice-President Dr Gharib Mohamed Bilal on Friday inaugurated Tanga Economic Zone project, an initiative that will see the establishment of 20 industries aimed at transforming the region’s economy.

Vice-President Dr Mohamed Gharib Bilal

“We should not depend on agriculture alone. Well established industries create value addition and this could result into the transformation of the whole economy,” he noted.

The laying down of infrastructures and the development of Tanga Economic Corridor to be implemented in partnership between Tanga Region and South Korean investors is estimated to cost 277 million US dollars.

Dr BIlal assured the Koreans and other prospective investors of the continued improved investment climate. “The government alone cannot undertake such mega projects, but in collaboration with the private sector like the Tanga economic corridor project, the implementation becomes a reality,” he added.

The Tanga Economic Zone project is of will be run in the shareholding tune of 49 per cent for the Tanga region and the Korean investors 51 per cent, the partnership that forms the Tanga Economic Corridor Company Limited. Tanga Economic Corridor Company Limited will implement the project in the 72 hectares of land set aside at Pongwe area, few kilometres from Tanga Municipality.

The Tanga Economic Corridor Company Ltd Board Chairman, Mr Chris Incheul Chae, said the project has so far attracted 17 companies to invest in the 20 factories that will be built in the special economic zone that will be completed next year. “The project means a lot to Tanga Region and the Tanzania government is expected to generate more than 2,000 employments and taxes to the national coffers,” he said.

He said giving aid was insufficient without empowering its people. With the project, many people will be trained into the level of technician to enhance their efficiencies in the implementation of projects.

To attain international competitiveness, industrialisation is no longer an option but a reality, he added. The Minister of Industry and Trade, Dr Abdallah Kigoda, said Tanga Economic Zone project was part of the government’s efforts to revive defunct industries and establish new ones in order to reach national vision of 2025 of being semi- industrialised nation.

He said currently, Economic Processing Zone Authority (EPZA) has issued about 129 licences to 44 companies specialising in the construction of economic zones, 85 manufacturing firms of which 70 having investments worth 1.15bn/-, employing 26,000 people have commenced operations.

He said the government has pledged to make Tanga Region the pivot of industrial development in the country, the promise that is progressively becoming a reality with ultimate goal to enhance the sector’s contributions to the economy.

Dr Kigoda said a total of 4,000 hectares of land have been set aside in Tanga Region for the establishment of more economic zones and efforts are in place to pay compensations to Naem village.

The EPZA Director General, Dr Adelhelm Meru, said plots of land of different sizes in 20 regions have been set aside for the establishment of the economic zones and in some parts it has reached advanced stage. Tanga Regional Commissioner (RC), Ms Chiku Galawa, said the project has come at the right time, because the region is trying to revive its historical development glory that was famous in 1960s and 1970s

Source Tanzania Daily News

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