How Tanzania is set to benefit from its agreement with Qatar

Dar es Salaam. Members of business community must be keeping their fingers crossed as the chamber of commerce starts detailing how they will benefit from a recent Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Tanzania and Qatar.

“We plan to hold a press conference for that objective to expound more on what we discussed and agreed upon and how Tanzanians can benefit from this,” the President of the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA), Paul Koyi, told The Citizen yesterday.

He said TCCIA will make sure the people are well informed about the benefits of the MoU and that they will do so through the media.

Last week, President Samia Suluhu Hassan witnessed the signing of a tripartite MoU between the Chambers of Commerce of Qatar, Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar aiming at strengthening trade and investment relations.

Mr Koyi signed on behalf of TCCIA while the chairman of Zanzibar National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), Ali Suleiman and the First Vice-Chairman of Qatar Chamber, Mohamed Bin Ahmed Twar Al Kuwari, signed on behalf of their respective associations.

According to the director of Presidential Communications, Ms Zuhura Yunus, the objective of the MoU was to enhance trade and investment cooperation and partnership between business communities from Tanzania and Qatar, particularly in the areas of tourism and hospitality, infrastructure and energy.

Analysts are of the view that with its massive natural gas reserves, Qatar offers some of the best options for Tanzania to learn from.

Available data show that petroleum and natural gas reserves are the cornerstones of Qatar’s economy. They account for more than 70 percent of total government revenue, more than 60 percent of gross domestic product and about 85 percent of export earnings. Qatar is the world’s second-largest exporter of natural gas. It has the world’s third largest proven natural gas reserves.

Tanzania has discovered 57.54 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. In June, the government signed an initial Host Government Agreement with investors and plans and that the agreement should be finalized by December this year.

In light of the agreements, analyst say Tanzania needs to continue with the initiatives of boosting its domestic economy for the agreements to yield lucrative results.

Prof Haji Semboja of the State University of Zanzibar’s economics department said the strategic international relationships have the potential for economic development but noted that Tanzania can only maximize its gain if its local economy is set.

“For foreign investment policies to work effectively locally we need to have a stable legal and regulatory environment. We need to build the capacity of our workforce and make them productive. We also need to continue supporting local businesses and the private sector overall,” he said.

Apart from the MoU, President Samia also held talks with Qatar’s Finance Minister, Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, on double taxation between two countries, investments, gas sector, livestock, tourism and agriculture, Ms Zuhura said in the statement late last year.

During talks between President Samia and Qatar’s Public Health Minister, Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, the two sides agreed to share expertise on emergency and trauma care.

Among other activities during her working visit to Qatar, President Samia also met the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, business leaders and attended the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) that came to a close today at the Multaqa Education Centre in Doha.