PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan yesterday expressed Tanzania’s readiness to work closely with Zambia in promoting trade and investment through the revival and renovation of key post-independence transport infrastructure linking the two countries.
Hosting visiting Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema at the State House in Dar es Salaam, she said the two countries have agreed to revive the Tanzania Zambia Railway (TAZARA) and the Tanzania Oil
Pipeline (TAZAMA) to facilitate trade volume increases.
“Tanzania and Zambia are long time friends. We have agreed to further promote these relations which should now be translated into economic and trade relations to improve the lives of our people,” the president stated.
On TAZARA, the president said the two countries have agreed to mobilize resources to revive the railway line to make it modern, lessening the pressure on roads in the two countries.
The two leaders similarly agreed to liaise to remove trade barriers by reviewing custom duties and cross border levies on goods carried by small scale traders from both countries at respective border points.
Tanzania has extended an invitation to Zambia to join up in supplying processed meat for the beef market in Saudi Arabia with joint venture initiatives, she stated.
Joint efforts are needed to boost Zambia’s use of the port of Dar es Salaam as it is closer, which would help reduce fuel prices in Zambia, she further stated.
The two countries have also agreed to work together in energy and mining, with a joint project for power generation whose work on this side of the border will be flagged off next January.
On agriculture, Tanzania expects to learn from Zambia for instance in regard to soy farming, while Tanzania purchases plenty of soy seeds from that country, she stated.
Regular meetings are also planned for the Joint Permanent Commission of Cooperation that met for the last time in 2016, she further noted.
In his remarks, President Hichilema said the two countries’ relations stem from the heritage of the founding fathers, Mwalimu Nyerere and Dr Kenneth Kaunda, within the wider context of southern African liberation struggles.
The importance of connecting the two nations arose from these challenges, he stated, underlining the need to work together to carry forward the historical relations.
“We were together in the struggle for independence, since then we have worked together and our people have been one,” he declared.
During the press briefing, the two countries signed agreements on security and cultural cooperation signed by the respective ministers for foreign affairs.
