Tanzania and Italy are set to deepen their cooperation in development, investment and trade as the two countries seek to expand their long-standing partnership.
This was highlighted during talks between the Minister for Finance, Khamis Mussa Omar, and Italy’s Ambassador to Tanzania, Giuseppe Coppola, held at the Ministry of Finance sub-offices in Dar es Salaam.
During the meeting, Mr Omar said Tanzania remains committed to strengthening cooperation with international partners while creating a favourable environment for investment and trade that benefits both sides.
He noted that the partnership between Tanzania and Italy has already delivered tangible development results across several sectors.
According to the minister, since 2011 the two countries have implemented four major cooperation projects worth more than €509 million aimed at strengthening national statistics systems, supporting vocational education and advancing development initiatives financed through the European Development Fund.
The cooperation has helped improve infrastructure and training capacity at institutions such as Arusha Technical College, Mbeya University of Science and Technology and the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology.
Italy has also supported the expansion of birth registration services, particularly for children under the age of five, enabling hundreds of health facilities and wards across the country to register births more efficiently.
Mr Omar called on Italy to further strengthen the partnership by increasing support through budget assistance, technical cooperation and investment, while encouraging Italian participation in key national development projects such as the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway Tanzania.
Ambassador Coppola said Italy values the strong and friendly relations it shares with Tanzania and remains committed to strengthening cooperation between the two countries.
He noted that there is significant potential to expand trade and investment ties, adding that some Italian companies operating in Tanzania, particularly in the wine and mining sectors, have been recognised among the country’s major taxpayers.
Italy, he said, is ready to continue supporting Tanzania’s development priorities in areas such as environmental conservation, value addition in agricultural products especially coffee information technology and trade development.
The meeting was also attended by Assistant Commissioner for External Finance Melkzedeck Mbise and senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, the President’s Office – Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Tanzania and representatives from the Italian Embassy.
