Tanzanian leader affirms support for China's investors

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has said investor forums with China in recent months have funneled more interest into the East African country.

Kikwete assured investors at the opening ceremony of the 3rd Tanzania-China Investment Forum in Beijing on Oct 22 that the Tanzanian government remains committed to supporting Chinese investors.

"If you want to go quickly, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together," he said in his keynote speech.

He said the forum attracted about 500 businesspeople from Tanzania and China. He added that after a Tanzania-China investment forum in June that was held in Dar es Salaam, there was a surge in Chinese interest in Tanzanian projects.

"The value of registered projects by Chinese investors from July to September stood at $533.9 million compared to $124.14 million for projects registered from July to September in 2013," Kikwete said.

"It is our commitment that we will work to support these projects to become operational as soon as possible," he told the forum in Beijing.

Kikwete said he was pleased to see that Chinese investors were focused on investing in meat processing, which he said will benefit Tanzania's livestock farmers, who mostly live in the country's rural areas and have an oversupply of cattle.

Tanzania imports over 800,000 metric tons of meat every year. Processing facilities could enhance supply in Tanzania as global demand for beef was estimated at 57 million tons as of 2013.

Through December 2013, the Tanzania Investment Center had registered more than 522 Chinese projects with a value of more than $2.5 billion.

It said the investments could create more than 77,000 jobs. Large inflows were recorded in the manufacturing sector that accounted for 354 out of the 522 projects registered.

At the forum, investment opportunities were presented by the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corp, the Tanzanian Ministry of Transport and the Tanzania National Housing Corporation.

Tanzania Investment Center CEO Juliet Kairuki showcased an investors guidebook, titled Celebrating Chinese Investments in Tanzania, and presented a booklet on project funding opportunities in Tanzania.

The forum produced several deals, including a $1.7 billion agreement between Tanzania's National Housing Corporation, China Railway Jiachang Engineering Co Ltd and Poly Technologies Inc.

For China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/24/2014 page3)