Tanzania

TANZANIA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE

TANZANIA MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

BY ALOYS MWAMANGA

TCCIA PRESIDENT

TAIPEI, TAIWAN

NOVEMBER 2008

INTRODUCTION

•  Tanzania is in East Africa on the India Ocean.

•  To the north are Uganda and Kenya; to the

west, Burundi, Rwanda, and Congo; and to

the south, Mozambique, Zambia, and Malawi.

•  Tanzania contains three of Africa's best-

known lakes—Victoria in the north,

Tanganyika in the west, and Nyasa in the

south.

•  Mount Kilimanjaro in the north - is the highest

point on the continent. The island of Zanzibar

is separated from the mainland by a 22 mile

channel.

Intro…. Cont…

n  Over 75 percent of the Tanzanian population lives in rural areas where small farms produce the maize, sorghum, rice and cassava that serve as the staples of the Tanzanian diet.

n  Furthermore, Tanzaia has natural beauty and bountiful resources—including gold, diamonds, natural gas and coal.

n  Beginning in 1986, the Government of Tanzania embarked on an adjustment program to dismantle state economic controls and encourage more active participation of the private sector in the economy.

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

n  The main products that Tanzania has managed to trade with Taiwan between 2002 and 2007 include: Copper and Articles, Cotton, Iron and Steel, Aluminium and articles, Wood and articles of woods, wood charcoal, Coffee, tea, mate and spices, Fish, Crustaceans, mollusks, aquatic invertebrates, Salt, sulphur, earth, stone, plaster, lime and cement.

n  Trade volumes between Tanzania and Taiwan have grown by almost 80 percent by the end of last year to reach 55 million U.S. dollars.

n  Bilateral trade increased by 71 percent, to be exact as imports from Taiwan to Tanzania posted a growth of 145 percent to reach 16,810 million dollars while exports from Tanzania to Taiwan rose by 124 percent to reach as record of 1,288 million-dollars.

n  The tripled growth of Tanzanian exports of mainly cotton, gold and sisal to Taiwan in the past years has been attributed to the Asian country's special preferential tariff agreement being extended on 400 items from most underdeveloped countries including Tanzania.

n  Sesame seeds, cocoa beans, wet goat skins, sea shells, waste plastic and seaweeds also enjoy the preferential tariff treatment in the bilateral trade.

n  Although, based on trends, Taiwan is a potential trade and investment partner of Tanzania, there is still much room for improvement.

n  It has become evident that Taiwanese companies like to do business with Tanzania, which I real congratulate.

n  There are a large number of industries where many opportunities are available for development, such as the capital goods sector, infrastructure, port development, the environment, the medical sector, ICT and the chemical industry.

n  These are sectors where Taiwanese companies can offer considerable added value.

n  The Tanzanian economy is regarded by many companies as being quite opened, and it is the promotion of private investments in particular that offer the means to stimulate development.

n  In short: Tanzania, a land rich in opportunities. It has one of the most rapidly growing economies in Africa and the limits have not yet been reached.

n  Tanzania offers an important sales market for Taiwanese companies, with a growing middle class, representing about 25 million people.

n  Companies from Taiwan and Tanzania - can build further enter into trade relations, or perhaps even joint ventures. By sharing know-how and expertise, enhancing opportunities and being stronger together.

n  I don't think you need any more encouragement. I am sure that from to-date, fruitful agreements will be held with counterparts from Tanzania. The past years have shown that the Tanzania and Taiwan business communities understand each other very well and are good partners.

n  In short, there is every reason to have confidence in a great future. Let us - Tanzania and Taiwan - join forces to make sure of that.