OMAN-TANZANIA: Tanzanian Diaspora Meeting ends on a high note

Mon, 24 December 2012

Greater scope for Omani-Tanzanian bilateral ties, trade and investment — By Ali Ahmed al Riyami — MUSCAT — Following on from the recent state visit by the Tanzanian President, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, where a number of agreements were signed and bilateral relations between the Sultanate and Tanzania were further cemented, a 3-day Tanzanian Diaspora Meeting that seeks to bolster and increase Investment, Trade and Partnership, concluded on a high note at the Crowne Plaza Muscat on Saturday.
The 48-member high profile delegation led by Ambassador Bertha E Semu-Somi, Director, Diaspora Engagement Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the presence of Abdallah A Kilima, Head of Chancery, Tanzanian Embassy Muscat, and Ambassador Yahya Hassan Simba, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reflects Oman’s important position as one of Tanzania’s 10 top importers.
Thanks to deep rooted historical links, there are unique and special relations existing between Oman and Tanzania – including the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba — which are due to the Sultanate being the only country outside of the African continent that shares close cultural and family ties. This has allowed for and further opened up the good potential for mutually beneficial growth in trade, investment and bilateral and cultural relations.

Besides various socio-political ties that exist between the two countries, there are numerous opportunities to further cement economic ties for trade and mutual investment opportunities, with Oman also being the top GCC importer into the country.
Elaborating on this, in comments given to the Observer on the occasion, Ambassador Bertha noted: “The event is a follow up to the successful visit here of President Kikwete, two months ago on October 22. He had promised that a team of Tanzanian representatives from different sectors of the economy, led by the Diaspora Department, would come on a follow up visit.
“The idea is to augment and enhance cooperation between Tanzania and Oman, overcome the hurdles and advance the opportunities through discussions with their counterparts here. From this, we will know how to go about addressing concerns and issues and improving relationships between the two countries.
“We had two months of preparatory meetings discussing the challenges facing Tanzania – for example there are too few rooms to meet tourism demands and this provides Omani investors with the chance of investing in the sector.”
She said, the visit has allowed them to meet up with Omanis with ties to Tanzania and Tanzanians living in the Sultanate, as well as their business associates who can see how best they can avail of existing opportunities and overcome issues impeding investment.
As per the directives given by President Kikwete, she said, they looked into three specific areas namely to: Address concerns raised during the President’s visit, such as restrictions and delays at Dar Es Salam ports and harbours; to sit with their counterparts here and view aspects of investments and the challenges being faced in this regard; And to see which areas are available for the enhancement of relations between Tanzania and the Sultanate of Oman.
Oman and Tanzania have a Joint Permanent Commission that looks after various issues concerning MoU’s, agreement, cooperation in education, health, exchange of employment opportunities and the like.
A delegation headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdalla is scheduled to meet their counterparts in Tanzania in February 2013, noted Ambassador Bertha, adding that, a major conference is in the works and will take place in Oman or Tanzania, hopefully before June 2013.
Omani businessman, Mohamed al Riyami, was present at the meeting and noted, “We should be grateful to His Majesty the Sultan and president Kikwete to have given us this golden opportunity, which we should act upon now and not postpone. It is a golden opportunity for the reunion of these two nations.
Sectors represented at the meeting included, theTanzanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC), Immigration, Tanzania Private Sector Foundation, Natural Resource and Tourism, Zanzibar Planning Commission, CRDB Bank, President’s Office - Public Services, Tanzania Tourist Board, Zanzibar Social Security Fund, Prime Minister's Office, Zanzibar Insurance, Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Information, Tanzania Employment Agency, TAESA, Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority, Attorney General - Contracts and Treaties Division, Bank of Africa, TCCIA, Azania Bank Ltd., Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), President’s Office – Zanzibar, People’s Bank of Zanzibar, Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority, Ministry of Finance – Zanzibar, ZNCCIA - Zanzibar, Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA), Ministry of Transport, and the Export Processing Zones Authority.