TANZANIA has made clear its plan to start putting in place infrastructure to develop food ports with European markets in contention.
The Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union (EU), Dr Diodorus Kamala, told the 'Daily News' that there would be a working session in Brussels to put in place an action plan to guide the transformation of Tanzania ports into food ports in September this year.
The working session would draw participants from the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium and Tanzania logistics stakeholders, he said. Ambassador Kamala reported that the working session would also brainstorm on how to link Walonnia Multimodal Transport Hub and Tanzania Transport Hub, which is a gateway to East Africa, Great Lakes Region and Southern Africa region.
At the same time (in September) there would be a business seminar in Liege in Belgium, which will focus, highlight and explain Tanzania's investment opportunities.
According to the envoy, Belgium business investors would before that visit Tanzania in the trade mission that would be organised by the embassy, Wallonia Investment and Export Agency (AWEX), Flanders Investment and Trade Agency (FIT), Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) and Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF).
In April next year, the embassy and the Belgium Africa Rise Organisation would organise the Tanzania Business Week in the Capital, Brussels. This development comes as a result of a recent Tanzania Logistics Stakeholders Learning Tour to Belgium where the Tanzania Friends of Belgium and Luxembourg association was established.
The group aims at promoting trade, economic relations and friendship between the two countries and best practices learnt during the Tanzania Logistics Stakeholders' visit. Former cabinet minister Nazir Karamagi is the group's patron while Mr Otieno Igogo is chairman.
Both are stakeholders in the shipping industry. The secretariat of the group will be based at Victoria Plaza in Dar es Salaam. Membership to the group has been classified as "open ended". Interested persons are free to join provided they subscribe to the idea of promoting Tanzania-Belgium friendship and economic diplomacy.
Tanzania is borrowing a leaf from one of Europe's major food ports with the view to explore the possibilities of exporting perishable goods by maritime transport to European markets.
The North Sea Food Port has already agreed to share lessons about the food port concept and to jointly assess ways of future cooperation between the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium and ports in Tanzania. A government delegation last month made a strategic visit to Belgium.
Officials from the Ministry of Infrastructure also met the Walloon Export and Foreign Investment Agency (AWEX) and other groups in the transport and logistics mainly involved in the railway industry -- BEMOBEX, ALSOM and CMI.
They met with the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO), in Brussels to explore financing opportunities of Tanzania's infrastructure and logistics.
He added that they would also visit ALSTOM, Group Delanoit and Group CMI, who are the global leaders in transport, train and tack. Among other items on their itinerary, they also met with officials of the Walloon Export and Foreign Investment Agency with the aim of highlighting investments opportunities in Tanzania.
source:tanzania daily news
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