Mwijage urges local companies to up skills

Dar es Salaam. Industry, Trade and Investments minister Charles Mwijage has urged local companies to register with the Kaizen project to improve their competitiveness skills.

His call – aired during an event to offer Kaizen awards to several firms -- comes amid reports that it is only about 20 per cent of local industries that can export their products.

The Kaizen project is supported by Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

Kaizen is a Japanese word that stands for “improvement”. When used in the business sense, Kaizen refers to activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all employees.

According to Mr Mwijage, a positive response to his call would guarantee quality and improved productivity of locally-produced items and eventually leverage the government dream of turning Tanzania into a semi-industrialised middle income nation by the year 2025.

“Companies without firm base in quality and productivity can hardly survive in this globalised economy,” he said urging Tanzania Bureau of Standards and Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority to ensure that substandard products do not find their way into the market.