Poland has agreed to provide insurance guarantees for the standard gauge railway slots three and four through its export credit agency KUKE, President Samia Suluhu Hassan has announced.

She said at a joint press conference yesterday that this decision is one among issues agreed in talks with the visiting Polish president Andrzej Duda, with the two countries agreeing to start presumably weekly direct flights between them, to strengthen bilateral ties and increase trade volumes.

The two leaders agreed to revitalize diplomatic cooperation in strategic sectors like information and communication technology (ICT), health, education, agriculture and tourism, she said, pointing at the need to intensify the use of technology in the manufacturing and mining sectors.

President Duda arrived in the country on Thursday, on the second stage of a tour of three African countries, where President Samia said at the briefing that the Polish leader’s visit is testimony to the vibrant bilateral relationship obtaining between the two countries.

Poland is among the 10 top countries regarding the sources of tourist visitations to Tanzania, the host president noted, while the visiting leader said Tanzania and Poland have decades of friendship.

The flow of tourists from the European country to Tanzania was a sign that the relationship was growing, he said, extending a hand of welcome to Tanzanian youths to study in Poland in trending spheres like ICT, environment and climate change mitigation fields.

The visit is poised to bolster bilateral ties and pave the way for enhanced cooperation across various sectors, he said, meanwhile as he was expected to visit a treatment project at the Aga Khan Hospital in the commercial capital.

The facility has received $1.137m for a site tour of the Improving Emergency Care in Tanzania (IMECT), funded by Polish Aid with intent to providing assistance in treatment and educating healthcare service providers.

President Duda, accompanied by a business delegation, embarked on a tour of Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda from the 5th to 9th February, aimed at boosting economic ties and strategic cooperation.

Online sources cited remarks by President Duda as he arrived in Nairobi that his Africa visit aims at seeking more bilateral ties with African nations as well as “fighting against Russian misinformation.” 

An earlier entry noted that Poland's Armed Forces Day parade back in August 2023 marked the 103rd anniversary of victory over the Soviet Union in the Battle of Warsaw, the country’s capital, to remove vestiges of Russian imperial rule over most of that country.

At the start of his African tour, Kenya signed two bilateral agreements with Poland relating to agro-sector trade and removing double taxation in the conduct of business between the two countries, the sources added.