THE government on Thursday expressed its readiness and commitment on empowering local investors by creating favourable environment for them to become strategic investors.
Prime Minister Mr Kassim Majaliwa assured local investors when responding to the supplementary question regarding the government's plans to support local investors and boost investment in the country.
The question was posed by Moshi Rural Member of Parliament, Prof Patrick Ndakidemi in the House. Mr Majaliwa noted that the country's investment policies enable Tanzanian investors to inject their capital in economic opportunities available.
"The government has adopted the local content criteria that allow Tanzanians to participate in the country's major development projects such as the Julius Nyerere Hydro Power Plant (JNHPP), the electrified Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) among others" Mr Majaliwa said.
He insisted that the government will keep on carrying out substantial reforms to boost local investments. However, another question was raised by Korogwe Rural MP, Mr Timotheo Mzava, demanding the government to list stalled privatised farms and factories so that they can be nationalised or reprivatised to active investors as means of creating jobs and strengthening economic production.
Mr Majaliwa said the government has been carrying out a feasibility study to identify all investors who have failed to run factories and farms provided to them by the government. He said after the feasibility study, the factories and farms will be confiscated from the failed investors and redistributed to capable investors.
"The assessment which has been carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture will enable the government to repossess farms and factories in order to operate them or redistribute them to other investors who are ready and committed to invest in them," Mr Majaliwa said.
In another development, he urged the Ministry of Agriculture to conduct a follow up in areas, which did not adopt an auction system in selling crops, especially in districts and regions with cooperative unions.
"The auction system enables farmers to obtain rewarding price," he said.
In that regard, he directed Regional Commissioners (RCs) across the country to conduct a comprehensive inspection at district level to ensure crops are sold through auctions.
