THE government has said that implementation of the African Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) calls for improvement of goods and services in the country that can compete in the market.

This was said yesterday by Dr Hashil Abdallah, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry and Trade during the opening of the 17th AfCFTA Permanent Secretaries’ Meeting held in Zanzibar.

The meeting will be followed by the ministerial level meeting that will be held on Monday and Tuesday in Zanzibar where Tanzania hosts the two meetings.

Dr Abdallah said that implementation of AfCFTA in the country will contribute to encouraging industrial growth and improving the business environment which will in turn produce positive results by increasing employment and national income.

He said it will also contribute to providing better social services to Tanzanians and finally achieve the goals of the National Vision 2025 and Agenda 2063 for a developed Africa.

He called on the Tanzanian business community to seize the opportunities presented by the AfCFTA market with more than 1.3 billion people by producing products with the required quality and standards that can compete in that market.

He said that if they succeed in doing so, they will be implementing in practice the mission of the government by opening up the country economically.

“Our colleagues are running, we need to run faster and it is our responsibility to take advantage of the opportunities available in the AfCFTA market,” he said.

Fatma Mabrouk Khamis, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Trade and Industrial Development -Zanzibar, called on fellow permanent secretaries in the region to fulfil the goals of AfCFTA by creating a prosperous and inclusive Africa so that that the citizens of each country benefit from the market.

She called on all citizens, especially women and youth in Tanzania to take advantage of the opportunities by selling quality products of Tanzanian origin according to the needs of the market of 54 African countries.

Emily Ndoria, AfCFTA Director of Business Services, Investment, Creative Intellectual Property and Online Business , said AfCFTA has developed various protocols to enable African countries trade goods and services, increase employment, national GDP and be commercially and economically independent.

She advised member countries to encourage their citizens, especially women and youth, to use the opportunities to produce products with quality and international standards so that they can meet the needs and compete in the African market.