es Salaam Swahili International Expo was mounted in October 2017, a PLASTICINDIA Roadshow was conducted in Dar es Salaam in September 2017, a delegation of 30 businesspersons from Tanzania participated at the India-Tanzania Business Forum conducted on the margins of the Joint Trade Committee Forum on 30 August, 2017 in New Delhi, a delegation from Kerala Cashew Corporation visited Dar es Salaam and Mtwara to explore the possibility of increasing trade between India and Tanzania( October, 2017) and about 42 Indian companies led by the Federation of Indian Export Organization( FIEO) participated at the 13th Tanzania Trade Show at Dar es Salaam in November 2017.
In addition, Tanzania delegations participated in a number of trade fairs in India, including IPHEX-2017, India International Footwear Fair 2017 and I for Africa Conference 2017. As for the bilateral exchanges at a high level during the stated period, they included the Vice-President of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar, H. E. Ambassador Seif Ali Idd who visited India in April, 2017 and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Honourable Charles Mwijage, who led the Tanzanian delegation at the Indo-Tanzania Joint Trade Committee on 28-29 August 2017.
India and Tanzania have been trying to deepen their overall defence and security partnership, especially in the maritime domain. What kind of headway have the countries made in this respect?
As maritime nations, Tanzania and India have a common interest in the domain of maritime security; this is, by and large, a priority for Tanzania and is well reflected in the Tanzania National Security Strategy. Threats in maritime domain include the following among others- Sea Piracy, Maritime Terrorism emanating from sea, illicit drug trafficking, human trafficking, illicit small arms and ammunition trafficking, illegal unreported and unregulated fishing. And all these may have a bearing on climatic changes such as rising sea levels. The most effective way to encounter these threats in developing countries has been through partnerships for common good. In this regard, there is a new impetus for cooperation between the Navies of Tanzania and India in countering maritime threats following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in 2003 on Defence Cooperation.
Under this MOU, there have been quite a number of capacity building programs for Tanzania’ s Military personnel in India under the International Technical and Economic Cooperation platform. For instance, for the academic year 2017 / 2018, a total of 105 slots
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were allocated to members of the Tanzania Defence Forces to join various military training establishments in India. In order to enhance interoperability, the Tanzanian forces have, from time to time, been invited to multinational exercises and forums such as the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium to which Tanzania is an Observer, and also to MILAN forums where maritime challenges are discussed. Besides, in terms of infrastructure development, Tanzania has for many years acquired from India most of the maritime security assets and on maritime safety, Indian ships have been conducting the Indo-Tanzania Joint Hydrographical surveys for the past five years as well as providing the requisite training in that speciality. On security front, anti-piracy patrols by India Naval Ships off-Seychelles and Mauritius have augmented the joint efforts to protect Sea Lane of Communications( SLOCS) by Tanzania, South Africa and Mozambique based on the Trilateral Maritime Security Agreement which was signed in 2012.
Another area which is being looked at is on maritime domain awareness in terms of White Shipping Information and the upgrading of Surveillance Systems. To this end, a draft agreement on sharing White Shipping Information between the Navies of the two countries has been exchanged and awaits some feedback from relevant institutions. Once concluded and signed, it will cater for information sharing among the commercial ships, passenger liners, and pleasure craft and fishing boats which are non-military and non-government related shipping vessels.
Tanzania has undergone impressive political and economic developments and improvements in social welfare in recent years. However, the country continues to face considerable development challenges in various sectors. How does the country plan to address the same in terms of seeking India’ s cooperation to resolve the issues?
His Excellency Dr. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli assumed the presidency in in November 2015 and embarked on the tradition of change and continuity in very practical ways. He has introduced some impressive policy changes, especially his drive and style of fighting corruption in the country, earning him an international accolade. The Transparency International Report which was released on 21st February 2018 revealed how the war on graft in Tanzania is paying dividends. According to the report, Tanzania has climbed 13 places to position number 103 in the Corruption Perceptions Index in 2017 from 116 in the previous year with a score of 36 points,
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