India remains a major destination for Tanzanian cashew nuts
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan has made a three-day state visit to India from 8-10 Oct 2023 and discussed investments and projects with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The two leaders expressed desire to expand bilateral trade using local currencies. They noted that Reserve Bank of India (Indian Central Bank) has cleared the way for trade using local currencies i.e. Indian Rupee and Tanzanian Shilling by allowing the authorized banks in India to open Special Rupee Vostro Accounts (SRVA) of correspondent banks of Tanzania and that transactions using this mechanism have already materialised.
Both sides agreed to explore the possibility of setting up of an Investment Park in Tanzania, and noted recent trends of renewed interest from Indian businessmen keen on investing in that Africa state.
India is amongst the top five investment sources for Tanzania whereby 630 investment projects worth US$3.74 billion have been registered.
Both sides recognised that agriculture sector cooperation remains a strong pillar in the relations whereby 98% of product lines from Tanzania are imported tariff-free using India’s Duty Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) scheme.
India remains a major destination for Tanzanian cashew nuts, pigeon peas, spices, avocado and other agricultural commodities. Both sides agreed to further revitalise cooperation in this sector.
The Tanzanian President appreciated India’s development partnership assistance in the areas of Water, Health, Education, Capacity Building, Scholarships and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) among others.
The two sides also expressed satisfaction on Lines of Credits (LoCs) extended by India to Tanzania that amount to over US$1.1 billion covering fields of drinking water infrastructure, agriculture and defence.
It was specifically noted that Water Projects in 24 towns of Tanzania worth US$500 Million through a Line of Credit scheme are presently being implemented.
Once completed, it would provide easy access to safe drinking water to about 6 million residents of these regions.
The Tanzanian side appreciated that the Indian scholarship and capacity building program has tremendously contributed to its Human Resource development.
India offers 450 Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) scholarships for capacity building and 70 Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarships for long term programmes in 2023-24. The Indian side announced the decision to increase the number of Long-term scholarships (ICCR) from 70 to 85 for the year 2023-24.
As part of its commitment to the Global South, India also announced 1,000 additional ITEC slots for Tanzania to be used over a 5-year period in new and emergent fields like Smart Ports, Space, Biotechnology, Artificial Intelligence, Aviation Management, etc.
The Indian side offered collaboration in areas of space technologies and digital public infrastructure under India Stack including Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Digital Unique Identity (Aadhar).
The Tanzanian side welcomed Indian support for establishing a Vocational Training Centre (VTC) in Pemba, Zanzibar and designing courses based on the demands of the local market. The Indian side offered to set up vocational training institutions on the lines of Vocational Skilling Centres of India to provide training and skill enhancement to the Tanzanian youth.
Both leaders affirmed the significance of establishing the first overseas campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, in Zanzibar. They also agreed that IIT in Zanzibar has the potential to become the premier centre for technical education in the African continent. They noted that classes for the first batch are scheduled to begin this month. Tanzanian side appreciated India’s commitment in this regard and assured of its full support to the growth and sustainability of IIT in Zanzibar. Fiinews.com
