By Frank Kimboy
The Citizen
The Tanzania government has signed a five-year livestock and fishing agreement with China that would see Chinese firms invest in aquaculture and livestock projects.
The agreement was signed in Dar es Salaam yesterday by Livestock and Fisheries Development minister Dr John Magufuli and the China's deputy minister for Agriculture Niu Dun.
Speaking during the signing ceremony, Dr Magufuli said the agreement seeks to help Tanzania raise contributions to the GDP from livestock and fisheries sectors from the current 4.7 per cent and that of fisheries from 1.6 per cent to 10, respectively.
He said China, which leads globally in aquaculture, will expose Tanzanians to new technology from their Chinese counterparts.
"The agreement puts the two countries in a win-win situation.
Apart from financial gain, Tanzania would be able to adopt new fishing and livestock keeping technologies from China," Dr Magufuli said.
Highlighting terms of the agreement, the deputy minister for Livestock and Fisheries Development, Dr James Wanyancha, said the agreement would be implemented by a special committee to draw members from the two countries.
According to Dr Wanyancha, the agreement would be renewed after every five years and that if any country would opt to terminate the contract, it will be required to issue a sixmonth notice.
Dr Wanyancha said decisions by the committee would be reached after consultation with respective officials from both governments.
He said the special committee that would hold annual meetings in a country of its choice, and the host country would be required to meet all costs.
For his part, Mr Dun said China decided to invest in Tanzania due to long-term friendship existing between the countries.
He urged developing countries to work together to ensure food security instead of depending on food import from developed countries.
In another development, Dr Magufuli invited the Chinese government to invest in the Indian Ocean Tanzania Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ).
His statement came after one of the delegates from China at the signing ceremony inquired about the possibility of other countries investing in EEZ after a Japanese company did recently.
Dr Magufuli said the government is looking for other investors because of the vastness of the area. He said according to the EEZ experts, up to 200 shipping vessels can operate at a time since the area has more
