Meeting on private sector growth postponed

Dar es Salaam. A high-level national forum – which was aimed at bringing together all former presidents of Tanzania to share their experiences and contributions to the growth of the private sector in the country – has been postponed.

Themed Three Decades of Market-Led Economy: A Critical Evaluation of Private Sector Performance in Driving Tanzania’s Economy, the three-day meeting was scheduled for February 27 to March 1. Retired presidents Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Benjamin Mkapa and Jakaya Kikwete were to have been the main speakers, evaluating the past, present and future prospects of the private sector.

However, with just six days to go, Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) executive director Godfrey Simbeye said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the meeting had been postponed to May.

He added that the decision had been necessitated by the big number of people who had applied to take part in the meeting.

“We had planned to host 1,000 participants, but so far more than 2,500 people have requested to attend, most of them from outside Dar es Salaam,” Mr Simbeye said.

This prompted TPSF to decide to hold zonal meetings with members of the business community first.

“We have decided to go to the zones first with a view to evaluating our journey since 1998 when TPSF was established. The general meeting will now be held in May 2019, and President John Magufuli will be the guest of honour,” Mr Simbeye said.

The meeting is expected to assess and discuss issues raised during the zonal forums and come up with a common viewpoint.

In another development, Mr Simbeye said members of the business community will meet with permanent secretaries from key ministries to approve the Completion of Action Plan as a roadmap of implementing the blueprint aimed at improving the business climate in Tanzania.

The blueprint – which was endorsed by the Cabinet last year - sets the stage for a raft of amendments to laws and regulations governing businesses in the country.

“The one-day meeting will set priorities and decide when to officially launch the relevant action plan,” Mr Simbeye said.

He added that the document which is designed to ease legal procedures of doing business and investment had many issues which need to be ironed out ahead of its implementation. If the dialogue meetings are successful, Mr Simbeye added, businesses will grow and the tax collection ratio to GDP from private sector would also increase.

He said it was possible to push up the private sector’s tax collection ratio from 12 per cent to at least 15 per cent in the next three to five years.