The outline of the second National Five Year Development Plan which aims to implement the Tanzania Development Vision 2025 was tabled in the capitol before the parliament planning committee by the deputy minister for Finance, Dr Ashatu Kijaji.
She said the flagship projects to be considered under the FYDP II will include comprehensive Special Economic Zones in Bagamoyo, new ports in Mtwara and Kigoma to attract labour-intensive manufacturing industries.
“The new development plan is in line with President John Magufuli’s plan to have a new Tanzania based on an industrial economy” she told members of parliament.The SEZs, according to the deputy minister will increase agro-processing and value addition, targeting domestic and regional market.
Within the five year period, the government will also focus on the establishment of the Kurasini trade and logistic hub and also establish an agricultural city at Mkunazi.
Other projects include exploitation of iron ore deposits at Liganga and coal from Mchuchuma mines and preparatory work to develop a rail connection to the Mtwara port as well as establishment of chemical and glass sheets factories based on soda ash deposits from Lake Natron and Engeruka basin.
Under the FYDT II, the government will also construct a new central railway line of standard gauge and also establish an automotive manufacturing and assembly factory.
On youth empowerment, the government has promised to conduct mass training of young Tanzanians in specialized skills in the areas of oil and gas, engineering, health care among others. This is aimed at imparting a pool of labour –force with specialized skills in oil and gas, engineering, medicine and chemical industries.
To achieve the goals, she said the government has withdrawn from direct involvement in the production of goods and services leaving it to the private sector to play the key and active role in undertaking investments and projects under the plan.
Dr Kijaji noted that some of the specific ways in which financing can be solicited from the private sector include devising strategies to lure the local and foreign private sector to participate in identifying potential priorities in the plan.
The private sector can also be involved in nurturing a culture of integrity and adherence to corporate social responsibilities and disclosure of regulations in order to facilitate the estimation of resources available in private sector and their sources.
“This requires significant efforts to build and strengthen trust between the two agents,” she observed.
“The government will also be involved in developing a mechanism to facilitate pooling of individuals’ savings and resources thus encouraging parties to unite and undertake joint projects that are bigger and more profitable,” she added.
On the same note, the deputy minister outlined key lessons to carry forward in the formulation and subsequent implementation of FYDP I.
They include admission that high economic growth is necessary but not a sufficient condition to reduce poverty significantly as it is equally important to focus on the quality of that growth. She noted that it is important to have an effective implementation framework targeting few priorities with key performance indicators and a robust monitoring and evaluation system for good results.
The new plan, she said, needs to be based on close supervision and coordination of sector ministries decision on national strategic projects at the implementation stage for success and will need to be strengthened.
There is also need to strengthen systems for collection, storage, retrieval and dissemination of data and statistics in order to facilitate adequate monitoring and follow up on the implementation.
To determine the FYDP II focus, she said the government engaged consultants with groups of targeted internal and international stakeholders who came up with key recommendations.
The experts proposed that the plan focus on development of industries that produce goods that the country has comparative advantage over, goods for which raw materials are available in the country such as agricultural output, coal, uranium, nickel, phosphate and soda ash.
The new plan, according to them, should also see development of Mtwara/Lindi as a new source of heavy industry growth, power generation, gas economy and range of industries that can be fueled by gas.
The experts also recommended development of special economic zones capable of bringing noticeable impact to the economy as well as efficient exploitation of the central corridor in distribution of resources from the port to interior parts of Tanzania.
The plan to foster change should also include establishment of assembling industries with a view of creating domestic capacity to produce in the near future and serve the regional market.
The framework of the plan was tabled before the parliament planning committee, awaiting further scrutiny and discussion when the house resumes from today.
Some members of parliament who aired their opinion on the framework urged the government to be more specific on its project areas.
Sikonge MP, Joseoph Kakunda(CCM) said that the proposed industrialization should be specific and show which areas government investment will be based on and which will be under the private sector.
His Karagwe counterpart, Joseph Kizito (CCM) observed that in the plan, there was no analysis on how the external forces will affect or kill local industries.
“The team of experts engaged ought to have considered factors that affect local industries in accordance with the national industrialization guidelines,” he said.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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