Mr. Muhammad Saleem, High Commissioner-designate, held a meeting with 4-member delegation of Tea Board and Tea Development Agency of Tanzania at the High Commission on August 19, 2020. The delegation was led by Mr. Nicholaus Mauya, Director General, Tea Board of Tanzania. Ms. Kemilembe Kafanabo, Director, Tea Board of Tanzania; Mr. Theophord Ndunguru, Acting Director General and Mr. Julius Mjeme, Principal Administrative Officer, Tea Development Agency, were also present.
Mr. Mauya gave a detailed briefing regarding Tanzanian tea processing and exports. Welcoming the delegation, Mr. Saleem informed that Pakistan is one of the largest consumer markets of tea with an annual import bill of over US$550million. He emphasized that Tanzanian exporters may consider exporting tea directly to Pakistan at competitive price to reduce the import bill for Pakistan. In this regard, Mr. Saleem urged Tanzanian tea exporters to consider visiting Pakistan for B2B meetings or to invite Pakistani tea traders to Tanzania.
As agriculture was the backbone of the two economies, the two sides also agreed on initiating cooperation in agriculture, research, development, innovation and exchange of expertise. Mr. Saleem informed the Tanzanian delegation that the volume of Pakistan-Tanzania bilateral trade increased from US$107.4 million in financial year 2018-19 to US$154.8 million in 2019-20 despite the recent Covid-19 related challenges. The two sides agreed to continue with exchange of information and arranging B2B meetings for tangible progress in agriculture and trade related ties for the mutual benefit of Pakistan and Tanzania.
Dar es Salaam
August 19, 2020