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Spearhead our economic rebirth
2006-01-10 08:15:46
By Judica Tarimo
President Jakaya Kikwete has urged ministers for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation and East African Community to develop workable strategies to enable the country benefit from expanded regional and international markets.
The President made the call yesterday in Dar es Salaam when handing over the office to Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation Minister Asha-Rose Migiro and East African Affairs Minister Andrew Chenge.
Kikwete was the minister for Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation prior to his being elected president on December 14.
The files he handed over yesterday contained references on foreign policy, general frameworks, reports on foreign policy implementation, ambassadors’ handbook, foreign ministry budget, speeches and the East African Community.
’We have decided to form a specific ministry for East Africa Community issues to ensure that our country participates gainfully in the regional market,’ said Kikwete.
He added:’It is up to you Mr Chenge to work out strategies to ensure that we benefit from regional trade, business and economic frameworks.’
He appealed to the EAC minister to utilise effectively the opportunities available in the regional bloc by turning the country’s economic weaknesses into strength.
The president said that the country could make a major economic leap if it made good use of available economic resources.
’China had virtually nothing a few years back; but now it is one of the world’s economic giants. I believe this is also possible with Tanzania,’said Kikwete.
On foreign affairs, the president challenged the ministry to adopt economic diplomacy as a strategy to attract more foreign investments, development assistance and expand tourism.
’Our ambassadors should spend most of their time searching for markets for our products and creating new friends. Economic diplomacy is one of the important components in the country’s foreign policy,’ he said.
Implementation of strategies to speed up economic growth and create more jobs for Tanzanians cannot be achieved without massive capital investments, he noted, and urged ambassadors to be more creative in assisting the country move towards meeting these goals.
’Ambassadors and foreign policy experts are better positioned to help reduce the accumulated debts or even cancel them. That’s why I insist on creativity on the part of ambassadors and foreign office officials,’the president noted.
Meanwhile, President Jakaya Kikwete has said that his government would not keep envoys at their foreign duty stations for too long.
There must be some kind of rotation. Ambassadors should stay for not more than eight years and come back home on completion of their tenure.
The tendency to stay outside the country for life would be history this time round, he declared.
The third-phase government had made it a policy that ambassadors work outside the country for only eight years after which they return home.
However, the ministry dillydallied in implementing the directive, which Kikwete is keen to implement.
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