The government has officially submitted its letter of approval for the Bagamoyo Special Economic Zone venture to China Merchants Port, agreeing and accepting the investor’s comprehensive project proposal.
The Tanzania Ambassador to China, Mr Mbelwa Kairuki, submitted, on behalf of the government, the letter from the Prime Minister’s Office to China Merchants Port Managing Director, Bai Jingtao, on the 10th of November, 2017.
According to information from Ambassador Kairuki , the letter from the Prime Minister’s Office to China Merchants Ports was a reply to the investor’s project proposal after the approval by the Cabinet meeting.
“With the approval by the Cabinet meeting, the Tanzanian government formally agreed and accepted the comprehensive proposal submitted by the China Merchants Port and the Oman Sovereign Fund on March 31, this year,” the Ambassador said. Having submitted the letter, Mr Bai thanked Ambassador Kairuki for his personal visit to Shenzhen City in China -- the headquarters of the company, and thanked the Tanzanian Government for its high attention and full support for the Bagamoyo project.
China Merchants Port will work with Oman partners to promote the Bagamoyo Special Economic Zone project. The approval by the government represents a breakthrough in the Bagamoyo project.
Economists believe that the project will be of great significance to Tanzania, through relying leton the new port of Bagamoyo and drawing on the development model of the ‘front portcentral- back city’ of the China Merchants Bureau to promote the construction of the park, stimulating economic growth, promoting employment, and promoting an industrialization drive.
The BSEZ project will further improve the overseas layout of China Merchants Port. Ambassador Kairuki expressed his gratitude for the participation of China Merchants Port in the Bagamoyo project, hoping that they will work with the Oman Sovereign Fund to advance the project. He assured the potential investors of government commitment to fully support smooth implementation of the project.
Other China Merchants Port leaders who witnessed the submission of the approval letter by Ambassador Kairuki include Mr Lu Yongxin, Deputy General Manager of China Merchants Port, Jiang Luning, Director of Overseas Business and Mr Lu Wenjuan, General Manager of the Board of Directors.
Last month, a delegation of reporters under the support of Tanzanian Embassy in China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and Exim Bank made a study tour of the second largest economy in the world where they also visited the headquarters of China Merchants Group in Shenzhen.
While in Shenzhen, China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited Director for Overseas Investments, Dr Moosa Mao told reporters that the project would bring enormous economic benefits to the country, including multiplying almost tenfold the GDP per capita income of Bagamoyo residents and tapping the containerised cargo that Kenya and South Africa ports are now receiving. Dr Moosa said the project would, among other things, involve establishment of 190 factories in start-up zone.
He said upon completion of the whole project, around 760 factories would have been established, catapulting the GDP per capita income of Bagamoyo from the current 901 US dollars to 8,100 US dollars by 2047.
He said the project would bring about multiplier effects, including availing job opportunities to Tanzanians. He said during project implementation, locals would benefit by providing labour force, but upon completion of the undertaking a total of 270,000 direct job opportunities would have been created. Dr Mao said the 5.6 billion US dollars project would involve construction of a modern port, industrial parks and real estate development.
China Merchants Group, a State owned company with a turnover of over 1 trillion US dollars, signed an agreement with the government in 2013 to implement the project, a replica of what it did in Shenzhen, turning it into a modern and exemplary City in the world from a mere fishing village.
Daily News
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