Tanzania, Mozambique give bilateral ties fresh push

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania and Mozambique are looking up to engaging in new joint investment ventures as they seek to unlock their countries’ opportunities in agriculture, natural gas and blue economy.

Tanzania’s Foreign Affairs and East Africa Corporation ministry’s permanent secretary Joseph Sokoine said yesterday the two countries intend to discuss and agree on various opportunities found in the respective countries and strengthen their partnerships.

"For the past years, we have been collaborating on various issues. But, now we want to boost the economy and strengthen partnerships in agriculture, natural gas and the blue economy because Mozambique has been doing well in those sectors,” he said.

He made the remarks at the 15th Joint Permanent Commission on Cooperation (JPCC) between Tanzania and Mozambique where officials from the two countries evaluated the progress of their 14th JPC meeting which was held in 2006.

“Since we met 16 years ago, a lot of things have changed. So, we met today to explore new opportunities and evaluate things that we did well and those we didn’t,” he said.

Mr Sokoine stressed that after the meeting, the two countries intend to enter into a new agreement whose Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) they will sign in future.

In the past 16 years, their cooperation has born fruit in areas of education and transport.

He, however, noted that the 720-metre long Unity Bridge connecting the two at the Ruvuma River has not yielded the intended economic opportunities yet for people in both countries.

“We will thus see how we can reduce non-tariff barriers so that the bridge is beneficial and improves livelihood for the respective countries,” he said.

The deputy director for Africa and Middle East in the Mozambican Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Corporation, Ambassador Hermenegildo Caetano said tapping into new investment opportunities would potentially boost economies of the two countries.