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CTI upbeat on formation of trade bureau
2008-02-27 08:58:33
By Perege Gumbo
The Tanzania Confederation of Industries (CTI) has earnestly supported government`s decision to form a specific body for facilitating internal trade in the country.
Expressing the Confederation`s view, the Director of Policy and Research Hussein Kamote said over the weekend that sequel to liberalisation of the economy; government trade promoting agencies have apparently focused their attention almost exclusively on foreign trade facilitation.
``We fully support the government for the noble idea, but what is needed is a strong information trade bureau stretched all the way to the districts to guarantee inclusiveness`` he said.
Given the ongoing fast transformations in information technology, he said, the style of promoting and even doing is taking up new bearings.
This kind of trajectory could ease the present burden on the Board of External Trade (BET) could be re-structured and empowered to have an exclusive department that would be catering for internal trade facilitation.
CTI`s remarks have barely three weeks after government`s announcement that it intends to re-introduce an agency which would facilitate internal trading and information about dynamics of the local market.
The decision was made known by President Jakaya Kikwete and expressed moments before he had named members of new cabinet in Dodoma.
BET has mainly concentrates on organising trade exhibitions, though important information on domestic markets has been missing all along.
Before mid 1980s, Tanzania used to have Board of Internal Trade-(BIT), but died a natural death through liberalisation and privatisation.
Some analysts have proposed the government should recreate a newly restructured BIT that would also provide information on availability of commodities and price variations.
The strategy is in line with the country`s National Development Vision (Vision 2025) and the National Strategy on Growth and Poverty Reduction (NSGPR).
The smoothening of the progress of of the internal trading for indigenous Tanzanians would definitely be a stepping stone for the attainment of the vision 2025 goals as well as economic empowerment.
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