News From Parliament

Government keen on improving food industry

Dr Abdallah Kigoda

THE Minister for Industry and Trade, Dr Abdallah Kigoda, has insisted that the government will not incur losses for establishing new food industries.

Dr Kigoda said the government’s responsibility is to encourage and to establish a conducive business environment for investors in different parts of the country, adding that the private sector has not yet failed to invest and establish new food processing industries in Tanzania.

He was responding to a question from Murtaza Ally Mangungu (Kilwa North- CCM), who sought to know the loss the government will incur by establishing new food industries after the failure of private sectors to do so.

Hesaid according to evaluation on industries made in 2009, food processing sectors has only 729 which have undergone evaluation.A total of 595 projects have already received licences from Business Registration and Licensing Agency (BRELA) for introducing industries between 2005 and 2011.

The Minister said currently the government policy is to encourage the private sector to invest more in food processing industries in orderto increase its value.He said that by doing this, it will help farmers and businessmen to sell by profit and increasetheir income and bring about economic growth to the country.

Dr Kigoda advised Mr Murtaza Ally Mangungu and his fellow legislators to cooperate with the government to encourage district councils to allocate specific areas for food industries and to promote the availability of their investment opportunities for domestic and foreign investors.

He also said that the government’s desire is to ensure that the private sector has a strong voice in running food industries and advise the district councils to allocate plots for construction of new food industries. He was responding to a supplementary question from Murtaza Ally Mangungu.