The team is led by the authority’s Board Chairman, Engineer Christopher Chiza and includes the TanTrad Acting Managing Director, Mr Edwin Rutageruka. The team was received by its host, the Regional Commissioner (RC), Retired Brigadier General Emmanuel Maganga, who thanked the authority for prioritising Kigoma Region.

The two parties held talks before touring various parts of the region. “We thank you for choosing our region to be the first region for implementing your pledge. We shall offer you maximum co-operation,” he pledged.

The RC said the region has many investment and trade opportunities, dismissing the contention that the region is and must remain poor. “I am always irritated by this argument because there is no empirical evidence to support it.

People here work hard and there are many potential prospects for sustainable internal and external trade,” he said, adding the region will designate land for a regional trade fair and investments based on TanTrade’s recommendations.

Brig. Gen. Maganga called on young people in the region to take advantage of the opportunities being exposed to them and work hard for their own prosperity and the region. Mr Chiza said the team was examining border trade and investment opportunities in the region.

He said cassava and palm trees thrive in Kigoma, explaining that the two crops could help the region have a strong economy if they were seriously developed and processed with the aim of expanding the potential internal and external markets.

“There is a ready market in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Burundi for products from our side and we can afford this,” he said. Mr Chiza said TanTrade wants to reach and help entrepreneurs who are unable to take their products to the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF).

Mid-this year the authority announced that it will launch a special programme to strengthen trade and business at regional level and give all entrepreneurs an opportunity to make their products known to potential buyers.

Source: Daily News

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.