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Dialogue is vital for success in business
2006-01-17 08:32:15
By PEREGE GUMBO
The recent event by the Iringa Business Council to conduct its first ever discussions between private business operators and public officials representing different departments of the government in the region, has shown other regions a way to follow.
The discussion has become a reality just after one month since the official inauguration of the Iringa Business Council.
It first looked as a normal and friendly discussion between representatives of the business community on one hand, and government officials headed by the representative of the President of United Republic of Tanzania-the Iringa Regional Commissioner Mejor Gen. (Ret.) James Luhanga on the other.
But as time passed by, you could hear participants’ voices coming out strongly, asking questions that demanded sincere and prompt responses and solutions from either side.
The scene reminded me of one Investors’ Round Table meeting I attended in Dar es Salaam.
At that meeting I witnessed the third government’s President Benjamin Mkapa sounding strong when he demanded answers for the investors’ problems, from individuals and government officials.
For the Iringa Region Business Council’s first meeting, the situation wasn’t very different from the one I have mentioned above.
Sited in a mingling style - where representatives from private and public sectors mixed, the business community started by pointing fingers to obstacles they felt were unnecessary and added costs to doing business in the region.
Cumbersome and tedious procedures of issuing transit passes for traders of timers looked to be among the major concerns, which needed immediate solution.
William Nyalusu, a timber trader from Mufindi complained of red tape in issuing transit passes for timber traders, who transported timber outside the Iringa Region.
He particularly pointed a finger at the cumbersome procedures, which required timber traders to travel from districts or villages to the regional headquarters in Iringa town to seek timber transit passes.
’These passes are hard to acquire, but we see foreigners from neighbouring countries making almost 50 percent of timber export-out of the Iringa region,’ he said.
Most of the procedures traders required to follow were unfriendly to doing business and offices they were required to visit were scattered in different departments, an act which encouraged elements of corruption to local and foreign investors.
The business community requested the regional authority, in collaboration with the national bodies to put in place a mechanism, which would ensure provision of the services under one roof.
On the other hand, the investors and Managing Director of Asas Dairy plant Mr.Salim Abri complained of high cost of electricity, high Value Added Tax (VAT) on by-products of milk, and high cost of water.
He said that the cost of production and insufficient supply of raw milk to the plant prompted decline of milk processing from 12,000 litres per day to just between 8,000 and 5,000 litres per day.
One of the steps the Asas Dairy Plant has taken to reverse the situation is that of acquiring a certificate from the Tanzania Investment Centre, which would enable the plant to get relief once it started new projects.
Already, the plant has acquired land, situated 30 kilometers from Iringa town, where cows will be kept for production and supply of milk to industry to boost its process capacity.
The establishment and completion of the farm would cost U$ 3 million in investment (about Tsh 3bn/-) and expected to greatly boost its processing capacity.
There were a range of obstacles that the business community cited, but many got solutions right in that meeting room, signifying the importance and advantage of regions in hastening such dialogues.
For instance, while the business community was citing lack of education on how to add value to the small-scale production plants, the Small Industry Development Organization (SIDO) came up with a solution to that obstacle.
The SIDO regional Manager Mr Enock Ndodole told the meeting that his organization was ready to help imparting the education that the business community needed, particularly in agro-processing.
The intervention by SIDO seemed to give relief to the 70 plus participants at the meeting.
This is because the organization had also previously promised to hold discussions with timber traders with the view of looking for ways of manufacturing machinery appropriate for small and medium timber dealers.
In his response to the problems cited by the business community, the Regional Commissioner Mr. Luhanga sought for answers from the public sector officials who attended the meeting.
’I know the regional forestry Officer is here, can you tell us why the businessmen dealing with timber continue to face red-tapes in getting transit passes?’ The RC asked.
Even after the officer had given lengthy explanations, the gathering as well as the RC were not satisfied with the answers, and the later ordered the forestry officer to make sure the red–tapes in acquiring transit passes were immediately and completely removed for the prosperity of local traders.
In giving the vote of thanks, Mr. John Roussos commended the discussion.
He said that for the entire 55 years he has stayed in Tanzania, he has never seen or attended such an effective meeting which could seek solutions to problems, right in the same meeting room.
’The uniqueness of this meeting is that it seeks solutions to investors’ problems on the spot, something I have never seen before, at least here in Tanzania,’ he said.
Mr. Roussos, who is finalizing a one million dollar investment in chips processing and packaging from abundant Irish potatoes that are found in Iringa earlier on spoke of high costs of production in agri-business and called for regional government’s intervention.
The high cost of production in the agriculture processing emanated from hiked prices of fertilizers and other essential infrastructure as well as utilities.
The Tanzania National Business Council was established in 2001 by Presidential Circular No. 1 of 2001, with the view of providing a forum for public/private sector dialogues and reaching consensus and mutual understanding on strategic issues related to efficient management of development resources.
During the recent farewell party for the retired president Mkapa, the Chief Executive Offers (CEO) Roundtable said that as a result of the TNBC’s consultative structure between private and public sector at the national level, their businesses have experienced growth.
The successes of TNBC at National levels have been carried down to the regions and already, Mwanza, Kigoma, Morogoro, Tanga, and Kilimanjaro have established their Business Councils.
It is expected that, the initiation of the business councils at regional levels would pave way for taking off of dialogues between local and foreign investors in respective regions on one hand, and the regional government officials on the other.
This would do away with problems, obstacles to business development and thereby find common solutions to the regional problems.
The ultimate goal is to allow the process to trickle down to the districts as well as wards and make the business community and investors get maximum returns on their investments for the benefit of the nation.
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