SPECIAL REPORT : Links between India and Tanzania excellent, says Ambassador Arya

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania enjoys diplomatic relations with various countries worldwide.

Among countries that Tanzania is in relation with is India, the second most populous country in the world. In this interview with The Citizen Reporter Deogratius Kamagi, India High Commissioner to Tanzania Mr Sandeep Arya explains the extent of that relationship and what could be done to cement it further. Excerpts:

Question; What have been your most rewarding experiences in Tanzania; how do you find investment and business activities?

Answer: Most rewarding is the interest in the people of Tanzania for India, their awareness for India, ameliorative and doing more in terms of the relation of the two countries.

This friendship and the support both from the government of Tanzania and its people are the key things that have been attracting me from my one year presence in this country, at it has added some energy, encouragement and commitment to ensure the relation is active and maintained.

I have an interest of looking and developing the available economic and social opportunities of developing a relationship base on the interest of the government of Tanzania and for areas which India strengthens where there is convergence of interest.

From your one year experience in the country, are there any challenges that you think have to be addressed to ease business opportunities and climate?

No, I don’t think if there is any challenge except that in the last year, there were general elections that saw the Tanzanians exercising their democratic rights actively. At that time internally they were transiting their leader; at that time the focus was made to the election, but we have to prioritize and identify which areas to pick up on the matters of the bilateral election.

On top of that, I would like to recommend Tanzania’s long standing history of democracy… I think it was another demonstration of the successful conduct of the democratic experience for Tanzania which was witnessed during the whole exercise and it is common for Tanzania and India as well, so it was nice to see smooth transition of power from one establishment to new administration.

How do you find investment opportunities/ climate in Tanzania?

A. There is lot of opportunity and excitement. President Jphn amgufuli has emphasized his priority to industrialization of the country, develop agriculture and agro based industries, around livestock industries, infrastructures of the country like power and manufacturing. This creates a lot of opportunities for investment and it has generated huge amount of interest among Indian business people.

For example, in July alone, there were three big companies from India delegation which came over. There were two major exhibitions by India business and a delegation of 50 businesses came with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They represented big companies with high investment. It is the reflection of the interest that Indians have to Tanzania for opportunities that are rising and working on them.

In fact there are several important projects which are in the works between the two countries which are primarily led by India private sector companies in different areas. The prospects look very good, and we are about to conclude some of these investments.

Which is the best business model that in your opinion Tanzania should adopt?

What we have done in the last 20-25 years is iberalize a lot of our the economy, which makes a lot of freedom and creating friendly environment for business people, including foreigners who wish to do businesses in India. So I think increasingly both government and private sectors are engaged. The private sector is taking a lead in the industrialization of the country

Do you issue scholarships for Tanzanians studying in India? How many beneficiaries are they so far?

Yes apparently there are two kinds of scholarships that we offer for Tanzanians, one is for university degrees that includes bachelor and masters degrees for various fields. So far in this year’s enrolment 25 out of 150 applicants flew to our country between July and August. The invitation was done earlier, in December last year.

One must have advanced secondary education, and whoever has completed a three year bachelor’s degree programme can apply for a masters degree programme.

Second scholarship is on Training programs in India, these are normally undertaken two months – one years, they are about 300 people meant for employees, not meant for students, they are for skills development career development, coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Public Services Management,

The program is extended in areas of management, parliament studies, energies, banking water, agriculture rural development, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s), entrepreneurship and Information and Communications Technology (ICT), development of small industries.

Applicants must have three year experience, good command of English and in the age of 25- 40 years, we also accept request from private sectors and last year they were 20-25, and their application should be verifies by the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (TCCIA).

The government of India does cover all costs for those who are going for training but for masters and degree they have to cover their air ticket. The factor number one is for those who have good academic standings

What are the important project they have in mind to support industrialization in Tanzania.

We have a good plan to support industrialization in Tanzania, the presence of prime minister here facilitated the signing of the joint action plan between small industries development organization of Tanzania (Sido) and the national small industries commission of India.

What we are going to three major activities such as setting up of incubation centre to promote industrialization, this will be having various machinery which will be brought and displayed in Tanzania for the sake to give people ideas of how they can venture on different economic fields including agriculture, food processing, and textiles.

It will also help most people in rural and semi urban areas to maximize small amount of money that they have to make profit by selling products that they will be producing…. With a limited amount of money you can really produce an output you can sell with high profit.

Also, we are arranging various training facilities which will be done and extend for training people in India for engaging in small scale industries; the basics is to share India’s experiences in terms of how to make policies, financial support, government procurement mechanism to be friendly for small industrial development; this is done purposely as India has a strong base for the small scale industrial sector.

This can also introduce Tanzania to various opportunities on how they should make the regulatory environment to encourage the private sector to grow, for small scale and micro industries.

In addition there are several government industries that are looking for investments in Tanzania; private sectors are also encouraged to explore these opportunities that are available in Tanzania.

On gender balance and women’s economic empowerment, are there any specific projects/ programmes that are financed by either the government of India or the high commission for women in Tanzania?

Well, we have one programme that was established and determined to support women and rural communities, by training semi-literate women from rural and semi-urban areas on renewable energy.

The government of India is working to construct five women’s regional vocational training for semi-literate and illiterate women, focusing on renewable technologies, digital inclusion and development of sustainable livehood and entrepreneurial skills sets for rural women.

We believe that placing women at the heart of the development process is the most reliable and effective way to pass on the wisdom, knowledge and skills that all rural poor communities already possess and which are so often undervalued and underutilized.

These mamas are so far doing well; they are commissioned to the barefoot college for close supervision. In Tanzania they are 30 from five regions of Lindi, Mtwara, Zanzibar, Shinyanga and Morogoro.

Are there investment and trade opportunities in India for foreign investors, including Tanzania?

It is already happening but is not well known. There are a couple of Tanzanian companies have invested in India. They are determined to expand these investments over there. They are Techno brain company and Export trading group which have project in agriculture processing and supply of agriculture product in our country and they are building, these are among the successful stories of Tanzania’s investments abroad.

India is well established in the health, as there are major and modern hospitals, but majority of Tanzanians can not afford the costs. Are there any plans to make the services cheaper to enable many Tanzanians access them ?

Many of the hospitals in India are private, and that is why most of services are too expensive for common mwananchi to afford, but the government is taking efforts to organize health camps; in this case, we bring a team of medical doctors to some parts of Tanzania and offer free medical services for a number days. This is part of our contribution as we all know how health services are too expensive.

These doctors also go to other hospitals including Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) to share their experience on how to develop new techniques of medical treatment.

Does the Indian Government give equipment facilities for Tanzania to scale down medical treatment?

Three India health projects are, cancer medical treatment, in which one radio therapy machine was installed in Mwanza’s Bugando hospital and it is expected to start working next month; the government of India has financed the machine, and training of people who shall operate it, and its maintenance for two years.

Moreover, India’s Prime Minister has pledged to provide edicines and medical treatment equipment including some ambulances for use in Tanzania.

Third is we have decided to make a contribution by supplying medicines through the Medical Stores Department (MSD).

How long does it take for one to get an India visa after application? And how the high commission treat emergency applications, especially for patients?

Ans. It takes 24 hours for one to get an Indian visa but we also issue emergency visas for patients who need to travel for treatment… their application takes between one-two ours.

India is accused of discrimination against blacks living there. What measures are being taken to end racism ?

Two incidents happened in India this year, one was the harassment of one female student, after a road accident which involved Sudanese people. After that, the government took serious measures against those who were involved, among them four police officers were suspended and 10 other people were arrested.

We have also taken steps to enhance security in all places that have high concentrations of African students; again the minister of Foreign Affairs on behalf of the government immediately condemned the incident, because the government of India is strongly against racial discrimination.

Were you diplomatically affected by the incident?

What happened was on an individual basis; that is why disciplinary measures were taken against those involved. We explained the situation, what happened and what we have done to end it, so I don’t think it has affected the relationship we have; furthermore, we shall keep on emphasizing about our war against racial discrimination.

Our government is taking serious measures to ensure everyone enjoys their stay while undertaking their activities in India.

Tell us about India’s biggest project/activity/event, in Tanzania, and what should Tanzanian expect from it?

We have signed an agreement and we have about $ 1 billion amounting to Sh2 trillion to support water supply in Dar es Salaam, starting from upper Ruvu plant near Mlandizi; we have set up a pumping station to pump water and a water treatment plant to clean water so that to be drinkable. Then we laid a 70 kilometer pipeline to Kibamba and Kimara for distribution. The project was completed in June, his year.

Also there is a Lake Victoria project which focuses to bring lake Victoria water from Mwanza to Nzega and Igunga in Tabora. The third is implemented at Chalinze in the Coast region under the lower Ruvu plant; it is a combination of water accumulation from the source, treatment and distribution to homes. nother project worth’s $92 million is in Zanzibar which will again enhance water supply. Water is life and we are sure to meet the target. On top of that, We are also investing in ICT development, at the University of Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology, the second is at the Nelson Mandela African institute of Science and Technology. centre is called Information Technology Centre of Excellency which will start on this academic year.