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Tanzania, South Africa agree to focus on economic cooperation

Xinhua, May 11, 2017 Adjust font size:

Tanzania and South Africa on Thursday agreed to focus on economic cooperation by encouraging private sector investments, infrastructure development, agro-processing, beneficiation and joint venture projects.

South African President Jacob Zuma said the two countries inaugurated the Bi-National Commission (BNC) at state and government levels to supervise growth on the new economic relations.

The visiting President Zuma was speaking at State House in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam after bilateral talks with President John Magufuli.

President Zuma said the BNC will provide the required impetus to the two countries' relations by expanding the areas of cooperation to include the political, economic, security and cultural fields.

"Added to this, we have directed our ministers and officials to finalize all outstanding agreements and memoranda of understanding," said Zuma who was on a two-day official visit to the east African country.

President Zuma and President Magufuli witnessed the signing of an agreement and Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on co-operation in transport, bio-diversity and conservation.

He said he was happy with the signing of the MoUs and called for their full implementation.

On the political front, President Zuma thanked Tanzania for the role it played towards the liberation of Africa, including South Africa.

"Tanzania continues to fight for peace in Africa, continuing her earlier contribution to decolonization and the ending of apartheid colonialism," said the South African leader.

He said South Africa was ready to work with Tanzania as the biggest troop contributors to the UN peace keeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"We share the concern over the continued political and security challenges in some of our sister countries on the continent," said Zuma.

For his part, President Magufuli appealed to South Africa to help Tanzania in investing in the construction of standard gauge railway (SGR) as a way of cementing historic relations between the two countries.

Magufuli also asked President Zuma to help Tanzania secure soft development loans from the New Development Bank (NDB) which his country co-owns with other BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, China and India.

"We call upon investors from South Africa to come and inject their resources by establishing mineral processing industries, tourist hotels, pharmaceutical industries, construction projects, agro-processing industries and so many other sectors," said Magufuli.

On Wednesday, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Co-operation, Augustine Mahiga, underscored the need to turn the historic relations between Tanzania and South Africa into co-operation and partnership for prosperity of the two countries.

"We have enjoyed cordial and historic relations dating back to founding fathers of Tanzania's Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and Nelson Mandela of South Africa," Mahiga told a news conference at the end of a ministerial session with South African Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, ahead of President Zuma's visit. Endit