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Tanzania, India discuss food, fuel prices
2008-04-09 09:37:51
By Joyce Kisaka, New Delhi
President Jakaya Kikwete and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have jointly raised concern over rises in food and fuel prices around the world, saying the development had a disastrous impact on their people.
The two leaders met on Monday and said the issue would be one of the items on the agenda of the two-day high-profile India-Africa Forum Summit that opened here yesterday.
President Kikwete said the people of both Africa and India were facing serious problems precipitated or aggravated by high food and fuel prices.
He added that he had agreed with Dr Singh that it was of fundamental importance for them to advise the summit to come up with a declaration – ``a single voice`` - on how to deal with the matter.
The Indian PM used their meeting to hail Tanzania as a role model in Africa, particularly given the success it had achieved in building nationalism and the way the country`s leadership was addressing its own social, economic, political and other problems.
Singh explained that, considering the historical relations between the two countries, there was a need for enhanced co-operation in trade and other areas.
He called on other African countries to emulate Tanzania ``which has been exemplary in the way it has been tackling the challenges facing it while also consolidating democratic practice and good governance``.
The Indian PM said he had great confidence that Kikwete, as Tanzania’s President and Chairman of the African Union, had the capacity to help consolidate relations between Africa and India.
Responding to the remarks, President Kikwete said: ``Being an African leader is a huge challenge not only because of Africa`s many social and economic problems but also because of the various political challenges around the continent.``
He mentioned the major challenges facing the African continent as lying in the health, education, water supply and infrastructure sectors.
Eradicating poverty and improving the people’s lives from the current level to moderate living conditions was a major challenge for leaders all over the continent, he noted.
The President requested India to direct more assistance to Africa in general and Tanzania in particular, especially in the agricultural sector, saying greater focus should be on irrigation and the manufacture of fertiliser.
Tanzania’s High Commissioner to India, John Kijazi, explained in an earlier briefing to President Kikwete Tanzania and India generally continued to enjoy relations as cordial as they have always been.
But he added that the volume of exports from Tanzania to India has lately dropped, ``and that may adversely affect Tanzania’s economy``.
However, President Kikwete said there was no cause for alarm over the development because it was due to a deliberate move by Tanzania ``since our present strategy is to reduce the exportation of raw materials``.
``We cannot continue exporting raw materials. We have to add value to our products, especially cashewnuts - which is our major export crop to India,`` he observed.
The summit seeks to establish a sustainable strategic and economic partnership between India and Africa, the latter being home to one third of the world population, by focusing on fashioning a more robust and contemporary strategic partnership.
The groundwork to bring the two parties closer together has been going on at government level for two years now.
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