The Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania Dr. Philip Mpango has given an opinion to the industrial producers to increase the scope of investment in various strategic industries that produce intermediate goods, especially those that generate a lot of jobs, stimulate creativity, productivity and have strong relationships with other sectors.

The Vice President gave the opinion during the annual Presidential Awards ceremony for the Best Producers held at the Super Dome Masaki Hall in Dar es Salaam. He said that currently the industries are doing relatively well in producing consumer products, beverages, food, construction products, especially cement, mothballs, marble and steel, however, these industries still depend on a large part of their raw materials from outside.

The Vice President has stressed the importance of the Confederation of Industry in the country (CTI) to identify sectors, sub-sectors and fast-growing industries that have already succeeded in penetrating the regional and international markets in order to determine what needs to be addressed by the private sector, the Government or by joint ventures to enable these industries to be able to increasing productivity, production and sales as part of the strategy to achieve the dreams of Tanzanians 2050.

In addition, he has urged industrialists to develop strategies to defend themselves against the effects of storms in the world economy as well as to take more measures to control environmental pollution resulting from their production activities, including the recycling of solid waste such as plastic.

The Vice President has also called on the Manufacturers of industrial products and the Private Sector in general to use the large youth workforce that exists as well as to start providing young people with more opportunities for practical training at work to increase their skills and guarantee them. He has directed CTI to start coordinating and using successful industrial producers in providing training to college students.

The Vice President has said that the Government has continued to take effective measures to ensure that industries are in an enabling environment that can stimulate efficiency and competition in the markets. He has mentioned that these measures include strengthening the transport and transportation infrastructure that includes strengthening air and rail transport in parallel with the expansion and improvement of the performance of the Port of Dar es Salaam with the aim of facilitating the loading and delivery of cargo quickly.

Also, the Vice President has said that the government has continued efforts to improve various sectors including Energy, such as reaching the final stages of completing the Julius Nyerere hydropower project - JNHPP (99.21%), the construction of industrial parks, including the Kwala Industrial Park, The Modern Industrial Park of Mlandizi, and the Construction of Basic Infrastructure in the Industrial Park - TAMCO, Kibaha together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade completing the National Strategy for the Implementation of the African Free Trade Zone Agreement. The goal is to increase the scope of the market for manufacturers of industrial products and traders in general.

On his part, the Chairman of the Federation of Industries in the country, Paul Makanza, has thanked the Government for solving the various challenges faced by industrial producers such as the lack of reliable electricity, a friendly tax system, the strengthening of access to foreign currency, the strengthening of the value of the shilling and inflation control in the country.