SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY JAKAYA MRISHO KIKWETE, PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED
DAR ES SALAAM, 14 FEBRUARY 2006
Chairman
of
Honourable
Minister for Industry, Trade and Marketing;
Honourable
Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Distinguished
Members of TPSF and Business Community;
Invited
Guests;
Ladies
and Gentlemen.
Let me express my sincere thanks to
the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation for inviting me to this auspicious
occasion, an occasion which has brought together important stakeholders in
moving the Tanzanian economy to prosperity.
It
is with a deep sense of commitment to Government-Private Sector Partnership,
and to our shared dedication to making the consultative process radiant that I
have accepted an early invitation for a working dinner with you members of the
Tanzania Private Sector Foundation and businessmen.
The
presence among us tonight of Chief and Senior Executives from the Tanzanian
private sector, is a matter of great satisfaction to me and, it is a testimony
of the dedication of the private sector to the partnership we seek to build and
sustain. Together, you and us in the
Government, can proclaim to Tanzanians that, business is critical to the
success of our development efforts. We need each other, we must work together
in cooperation and solidarity. The Government is prepared and ready to put in
place the right policies and a conducive environment for business and private
sector to grow and prosper to become a true engine of growth.
Chairman, Ladies and
Gentlemen,
I
am especially pleased that you have invited, tonight, a good number of my
colleagues in the government, public sector, development partners, representatives
of informal sector, labour, civil society, women and youths. For, we are one and together in this
endeavour. I thank all of them for their presence, and together we look forward
to a delightful evening and a bright future ahead of us.
Mr.
Chairman, we have come a long way! The fact that we now talk of a partnership
between the government and the private sector and, indeed, we see the necessity
for consultation and dialogue, testify to the transformation our country has
undergone over the past two decades. For this, I pay special tribute to my
predecessors and indeed to the organised private sector through Tanzania
Private Sector Foundation. My promise to you and all Tanzanians is that we will
continue with this path of transformation, we will entrench this partnership,
and we will ensure that the private sector plays its rightful role in driving
this country forward.
I
want to say this with all the emphasis I can muster: We will be friends of the
business community. Our policies and institutional arrangements will reflect
our commitment to this partnership. We all understand that you are in the business of
making profit. But for us, a dynamic private sector generates growth, creates
employment, and expands opportunities for our people to earn income with which
to satisfy their own social and material needs. When the private sector
functions well and equitably, everyone benefits, and this will ultimately lead
to improved standard of living in our country. The more successful you are, the
more tax revenue we collect, and the more we are able to fulfil our
responsibilities of state administration, ensuring law and order as well as
economic functions including that of creating a conducive environment for the
private sector to thrive. Of course, if the electorate is happy we get
re-elected. So, your business fortunes are our political fortunes. It’s a
win-win situation.
Chairman, Ladies and
Gentlemen,
After
nearly two decades of painstaking macroeconomic and structural reforms the
private sector has now emerged as the driving force of the country’s economy.
We have a clear consensus that the Government should limit its role in the
economy to that of a facilitator and regulator. Today, you will agree with me
that the private sector alone accounts for more than two-thirds of GDP, about
90 percent of wage employment, and virtually for all merchandise imports and
exports. Moreover, the private sector is
gratefully active in the provision of key social services, like education,
health and even security, complementing Government efforts.
Given
the emerging dominant role in the economy, the performance of the private
sector is key to the attainment of the Government’s social and economic
objectives, notably those relating to poverty reduction, acceleration of the
nation’s economic growth, and the profitable integration of
The
poverty reduction efforts we have set in motion in the country, with the
backing and support of International Financial Institutions, as well as other
bilateral development partners, will not succeed if the private sector is not
productive, efficient and competitive.
Mr Chairman, Ladies and
Gentlemen,
In
the presentation made on your behalf by TPSF Vice Chairman Mr. Leon Hooper, you
have testified that much has been achieved in the last ten years to make
As I said earlier, we shall stay the
course of reform and openness to private sector led investment and trade. We
are committed to making
In this regard, we are ready to work
with you to deal with the constraints and challenges that you so ably
enumerated in your presentation.
As business leaders, you have your
constituents – your shareholders. They have expectations and they place demands
on you in pursuit of those expectation.
In government, we serve all Tanzanians and the whole of
Mr Chairman, Ladies and
Gentlemen,
A
major pre-occupation of the Government, has been to ensure national social,
political, and economic stability. All along we have remained keenly aware that
progress on these fronts is underpinned by good governance and correct social,
political and economic policies. We also know that this progress would be more
secure in a context of regional stability. This realisation explains our
commitment to social, political and economic reforms and good governance within
our country as well as our unrelenting effort to join others in finding durable
solutions to disruptive conflicts in neighbouring countries. To date, progress
has been made in many fronts. The scorecard looks better on the national
economic and social dimension, but we have also scored successes in
peacebuilding efforts in our neighbourhood.
Politically,
we have managed to build a very stable constitutional democracy, with vibrant
political competition, independent judiciary, and an executive branch of the
state that is resolved to become a worthy servant of the people of
We have, indeed, done much to make
·
Further strengthening of the
Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) to make it more responsive to business.
·
Further reform of the
judiciary, the civil service, and the system of local administration.
·
Adoption of legal, accounting
and other mechanisms to further strengthen public expenditure management.
·
Diligent implementation of
the National Prevention of Corruption Strategy across all sectors.
·
Establishment of various
consultative processes in policy formulation and monitoring, to support the
ongoing efforts towards poverty alleviation and increase the overall effectiveness
of
·
Development of vibrant Small
and Medium Sized Enterprises, through financing, skills development and
linkages to the rest of the economy.
·
Removal of the more deeply
entrenched impediments in the factor markets for land and labour.
·
The improvement of the
performance of utilities and infrastructure, including power, water, railways
and ports, which will make
·
Accelerating the pace of
other institutional and administrative reforms, so as to reduce the high
“transactions costs” confronting investors.
·
Creating a more favourable
social and economic environment, free of crime and risk of policy reversal;
responsive to market-determined price signals in the commodity and factor
markets; and conducive to the exploitation of available export market
opportunities.
The
Government is determined to move quickly to address concerns of the private
sector in these matters. Indeed, we have
just set in motion a process for speedy implementation of specific measures in
this regard.
Perhaps,
I should further comment on corruption.
Corruption is a malady we are committed to fight. The resolve of the Government in this regard
is beyond doubt, because I understand that corruption is a significant
constraint in doing business. I do not
discount the existence of corruption in our country. I want to assure you that fighting the
scourge is a major policy tenet and will be a major preoccupation of this
government. But, as the saying goes, it
takes two to tango. Business has a tremendous role in the fight against
corruption. We can only win if both business and government cooperate. Please,
let me know who the perpetrators of this obnoxious and wicked practice are, so
that we deal with them squarely. Let me know their machinations, so that we can
dismantle them once and for all.
Mr Chairman, Ladies and
Gentlemen,
Allow me to leave with you some few
questions to ponder as you prepare for the first TNBC meeting and IRT
meetings. I am doing this to stimulate
a healthy discussion during those meetings hoping that at the end of such a
discussion, you will come up with solutions to the challenges:
1.
2.
Few countries in Africa can
claim to enjoy the kind of political
stability that
3.
The
benefits of the correct economic and fiscal policies
that have been applauded by many are yet to reach the ordinary Tanzanian. We have in place the right macro-economic
fundamentals for promoting growth, investments and trade. The challenge before
us is how to speedily and consistently send the gains to the micro-economic level and to rural
4.
5.
While the Tanzania Investment
Centre has now been strengthened to be a truly one-stop centre, assisting
investors in all issues, are we confident that ample assistance is given to
locals and in establishment of indigenous enterprises? What can Corporates
contribute in this front?
6.
The other important matter
that is more or less related to the previous one is that of creating a sizeable
7.
8.
Finally,
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and
Gentlemen,
In
ending, I request you all to have trust and confidence in my commitment to
support and encourage the growth and development of a vibrant private sector in
We
in the government expect that the private sector will provide frank views on
strategies and policies to promote investment and bolster the private sector in
My
Government also welcomes the opportunity to meet regularly and work with you on
matters on mutual interest and concern.
I
thank you for your kind attention and wish you a happy and prosperous new year
2006.