CONSTRUCTION progress of the Sino-Tan Industrial Park has reached a good stage of construction and is expected to be completed soon.

The facility is expected to have nearly 300 industries and will create more than 100,000 jobs once it starts operating.

This was availed yesterday when Industry and Trade Minister, Dr Selemani Jafo, visited the area in Kibaha District, Coast Region to inspect the construction progress.

Dr Jafo was happy to see the great work being done and it is a great comfort that the completion of the construction of the industrial park will lead to many jobs for Tanzanian youth.

Jafo said the government will make plans to ensure that the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) has its station in Kwala area to make it easier for the people who will be working in the park to travel to and from their homes.

He said that the area has already been provided with 10 Megawatts of electricity and the government is continuing efforts to ensure that the area is provided with enough electricity that will reach 50 Megawatts so that the factories that will be built can get reliable electricity.

"We want all the factories designated here to start working soon, so we will ensure that all the challenges of this area, including water and electricity problems, are solved immediately because the concrete level road has been completed up to here," said Jafo.

Janson Huang, Chairman of Sino Tan Industrial Park said the construction of the park started two years ago and that they have completed the first phase of construction involving 500 acres.

He said that the park has 2,500 acres and will be the largest industrial park in East and Central Africa, adding that the vision is to have more than 200 industries in the park.

"We thank the government of Tanzania for putting in place all the basic infrastructure including roads, and electricity, the government is giving us great cooperation in this construction and we are cooperating with the Tanzania Investment Center (TIC) to find investors who will come to set up factories in this park," he said.

He said that until now 10 industries have started investing in the area and that they continue to encourage many investors to come to Tanzania because the environment in the area is good.

He said they have been promoting the area in China and neighboring countries, and many investors have shown interest in investing in it.

The Industrial Park intends to build a chain of industries that will have the capacity to produce $6 billion per year.

Completing the industrial park will cost $320 million and is expected to create 100,000 direct jobs and 500,000 indirect jobs for natives who will work in those industries.