TIC, India's Haryana State sign MoU on trade, investments

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania and the Indian state of Haryana have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation meant to boost trade and investment.

The MoU was signed on Monday by the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) and the Foreign Cooperation Department of Haryana State, which is located in the northern part of India.

TIC executive director Gilead Teri said the areas of investment agreed upon under this MoU include automobiles, pharmaceuticals, the textile industry, and engineering.

The list also includes energy, chemicals, fertilisers, the production, and processing of agricultural products, science, education, tourism, and other areas of mutual interest.

Mr Teri added, they had persuaded Haryana, which is one of the leading states in terms of industrial production in India, to set up their industrial parks here in the country.

“We have agreed that they (investors from India) will start making investments in the country before September (this year),” said Mr Teri.

He said for the first time in the history of the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair, more than 60 investors from India have attended to explore opportunities for investment.

In fact, some of them, he explained, took part in the DITF.

“With this MoU, we are optimistic that we will cement relations between Tanzanian institutions and those in Haryana.

This will eventually help boost investment between Tanzania and India,” said Mr Teri.

Haryana’s Foreign Cooperation Department Chief Secretary, Dr Raja Sekhar Vundru, said the signing of the MoU with TIC is a great step towards boosting trade between Tanzania and India.

“With this MoU, our friendship and partnership in trade and investment will be cemented,” said Dr Vundru.

He went on to add: “We will be together on this journey. We have been having a continuous interaction between Tanzania and India, and we will keep the momentum going.”

India is one of Tanzania’s largest trading partners, with data from the Indian High Commission in Dar es Salaam putting the value of trade between the countries at $4.5 billion (about Sh10.8 trillion) during the year ending March 2022.

Ambassador of India to Tanzania Binaya Pradhan told The Citizen in March that between April 2021 and March 2022, India’s exports to Tanzania stood at $2.3 billion (about Sh5.5 trillion).

Imports from the East African nation were quoted at $2.2 billion (about Sh5.3 trillion).

“There is a huge potential for our trade to grow. We are expecting our trade volume to cross $6 billion (Sh13.8 trillion) this year,” he told this paper by phone.

As part of efforts to realise the dream, Tanzania and India struck an arrangement in March this year that will remove the need for using the United States Dollar in trading between the countries.

India to use their own currencies (the Tanzanian Shilling and the Indian Rupee) in settlements of trade transactions between the two countries.