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Govt on right track on Sullivan Summit
2008-01-01 08:53:41
By Correspondent Owino Opondo
There is every sign that the government seriously wants to see to it that Tanzania reaps maximum benefits from the Leon Sullivan Summit, which is scheduled to be held for the first time in the country from June 2 through 6 next year.
We are told that rehabilitation work is already in progress at the Arusha International Conference Centre, the event`s planned venue, while hoteliers in and around the Arusha Municipality are as seriously upgrading their facilities to cope with the 4,000-odd delegates and support staff expected at the summit.
The forthcoming summit is a significant event with great relevance to the country’s short, medium and long-term economic objectives. This is because it will be bringing together huge numbers of Africans and other people of African descent in Diaspora.
The latter are men and women whose ancestors were uprooted from Africa although, over the ages, they have amassed strategic skills, wealth, experience and technological base which could be rolled over onto our own country and reinvigorate its social and economic development.
It is encouraging that the government has been deeply involved in the preparations for the four-day summit, partly so as to help Tanzanian stakeholders benefit the most from the event.
The government is working hard to raise public awareness on the importance of the summit, which is expected to provide a rare season for our importers and exporters to make business.
Accordingly, the Industry, Trade and Marketing ministry has been liaising with the Sullivan Committee to organise a special trade fair at the event’s planned venue aimed at providing a marketing opportunity for the struggling small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The preparations include special zonal training sessions for prominent exporters and importers to be carried out from April by affiliate business organisations like CTI, TCCIA, TPSF and TNBC. These pro-active moves by the government are commendable but they require support from all stakeholders for the summit to succeed.
During the sessions, business entities will learn how to prepare sellable business plans in a variety of sectors. The plans will then be availed to the June summit delegates in advance so that they can make up their minds as to what deals they would prefer to get engaged in with Tanzanian counterparts.
Definitely, any further dialogues on the sidelines of the summit will be held solely for refining the details of the deals rather than have completely new ideas.
We will expect the government to extend more support to SMEs due to participate in the trade fair. For sure, we would not like to see the enterprises exhibit shoddy hand-made and other goods with poor finishing or, worse, without even proper labels and packaging.
Lastly, current mainstream thinking is apparently risking linking the summit solely to potential deals likely to arise from tourism sector. Such a perception would be outright misdirected.
Tanzania is blessed with massive potential in the healthcare and education sectors where we could gainfully partner with the African Diaspora at the June summit for mutual benefit.
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