Remark by Mr. Jijun Fu, Deputy Mission Chief and Political Councilor of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Tanzania on the Forum on China-Tanzania Economic and Trade Cooperation
(On December 13, 2011)
Honorable Mr. Aloys Mwanmanga, President Chairman of the Board Directors of Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Trade,
Honorable Mr. Wan Jifei, Chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Good morning. It is a great honor for me attending the Forum on China-Tanzania Economic and Trade Cooperation. I would like, on behalf of the Embassy of People’s Republic of China and in my own name, to express my highly appreciation to Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Trade and China Council for the Promotion of International Trade to jointly hold this important Forum. I am sure that the Forum can not only further the exchanges of the Chamber and the Council, but also deepen the bilateral cooperation between China and Tanzania at large. Please also allow me to welcome Honorable Mr. Wan Jifei and his delegation to visit Tanzania and wish them have a pleasant stay in the beautiful country.
Dear friends, China and Tanzania enjoy a long time friendly relations and cooperation. The friendship have been initiated and carefully nurtured by the leaders of four generations of both countries. In nearly 50 years after the establishment of the diplomatic relations, China has been trying to do its best in helping Tanzania to strengthen its self-development capacity, improve its peoples' livelihood, and promote its economic and social progress through aided projects such as TAZARA, National Stadium, Agriculture Technology Demonstration Center, Heart Surgery and Training Center, Primary Schools and so on. China has also been cherishing the mutual support and cooperation with Tanzania in protecting the sovereignty, freedom and interests of the developing countries including China and Tanzania.
With the rapid development of both China and Tanzania in the new century, the economic and trade cooperation between China and Tanzania is increasing every day. The bilateral trade is doubled in the past 5 years and reached 1653 million US dollars in 2010 with an annual increase of 48.9%. According to the data from Tanzania Investment Centre, up to the end of 2010, there were 324 Chinese companies registered in Tanzania with capital of 745 million US dollars. The Chinese investment covers extensive fields from manufacture to construction, service, agriculture, transportation, natural resources, electronic and communication. These projects have created 57,000 jobs for the local people and brought in leading technology and advanced management experience.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the economy both China and Tanzania are highly complementary and have big potential for furthering cooperation. We appreciate very much that Tanzanian government has been making great efforts to attract foreign investments in its industries of energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, tourism and so on. Chinese government is also encouraging its entrepreneurs to increase their investment in Africa countries under the structure of Forum of China-Africa Cooperation. I strongly believe that this Forum will offer a good arena for the entrepreneurs from both sides to exchange information and ideas for finding the cooperation opportunities.
I sincerely wish the Forum a great success! I thank you for your attention!