PREMIER Mizengo Pinda has urged business people to stop importing unnecessary goods to the country instead they should consolidate and establish local manufacturing industries to meet the demand.

He said that there are various unnecessary goods which locals have ability to produce them, as the country has all the required resources and raw materials.

Mr Pinda told reporters at the opening of Syrian Exhibition in Dar es Salaam yesterday that he had observed that there were products which could be produced locally, but unfortunately Tanzanians were obsessed with importing culture.

“I asked the exhibitors what material they use and told me they use cotton, something which we also produce in our country that means we also have that ability to produce our own clothes,” he said.

There are traders who have enough capital to establish industries or consolidate the existing ones, but they are focusing on importing alone, he said, noting it was high time the country focused on using cotton produced within the country for production instead of exporting it.

Expounding further, the premier said that the government of Syria was ready to share its expertise to Tanzanians who were ready to learn from them, adding they were planning to take few willing people to learn from them.

The Head of Commission in the Embassy of the Syria Arab representative in Dar es Salaam, Mr Abdulmonem Aman, said that the objective of exhibition was to promote foreign products but at the same time to benefit Tanzanians economically.

“We have few exhibitors from Tanzania and each exhibitor has employed local assistant on temporary basis, that means they are generating income through this exhibition and we hope in future we will develop it to a better stage,” he said.

Speaking on the high price of goods in the exhibition, he said the exhibition fees were high which pushed up the costs. Mr Aman said that other factors which led to increase of price included transport cost to the coastline where the goods will be shipped, plus the war and crisis in Syria they have doubled the insurance fees of the ships carrying the goods.

The head of mission further said that there were also many complications in clearing of their good in Dar es Salaam port, as the authorities were imposing some fees to be paid for the goods.

“You might know that Economic growth of any country is connected to liberalisation of trade, thus World Trade Organisation (WTO) regulations detects that you should eliminate gradually your tariff to allow more goods to be imported in the country, hence Tanzanians could have variety of goods which are of high quality,” he elaborated.

Chairman and manager of the Syrian exhibitions, Mr Fetian Abdulal, said that in Dar es Salaam the exhibitions have been historical, attracting over 10,000 visitors, some of them making instant purchases and orders for specific products of their preference.

“We will be having two exhibitions in a year, the first was in April and the second in October, instead of holding it after three months,” he said.

Source: Daily News

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