The Tanzanian government and the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) are calling for more investors to use the opportunities presented by EPZA guaranteeing the safety of investments and high yearly returns.
The encouragement took place over the weekend of 18-19th of April 2014, at the Benjamin William Mkapa Special Economic Zone in Dar Es Salaam.
Due to the preferential trade agreements between Tanzania and US (AGOA), Tanzania and the European Union (EPA), and easy access for Tanzania to East African markets (EAC) and the Southern African markets (SADC), investors have an opportunity for predictable high returns, efficiency, and additional benefits provided by the government, such as government facilitation and investment packages.
“The EPZ and SEZ schemes allow for secure predictable investments with great returns”, stated the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Ms Janeth Mbena, adding that: “Investing in such areas has a lot of benefits, EPZA offers investment in land and the Authority operates as a one stop service center”.
Before the weekend visit to one of the EPZ textile plants – Tanzania Tooku Garments Co, situated at Benjamin William Mkapa Special Economic Zone in Dar es Salaam, Ms Mbena held a meeting with EPZA officials during the course of which she had expressed her satisfaction with the progress made by EPZA and the fact that the Authority had surpassed its targets for 2013.
Director General of EPZA, Dr Adelhelm Meru was also happy to report an increase of local investors contributing to the export processing zones.
He attributed such a success to a sensitization campaign, during which a number of local forums, government meeting and exhibitions were conducted to attract new investors.
Currently 113 companies, 44% out which are local and 16% are joint ventures between foreign and local companies, are registered with EPZA, investing over USD 1.12 billion, having total value of exports of USD 700 million.
As both investments, total value of exports, and the number of EPZA companies are on the rise, it is forecasted that EPZ schemes can become one of the major GPD revenue generating activities.
EPZ Authority had surpassed its target for 2013, and had attracted 31 new large investors, which is 24% higher than expected.
Follow the link to read TanzaniaInvest.com exclusive interview with Dr Meru, Director General of EPZA: http://tanzaniainvest.com/industry-trade/interviews/585-epza
Follow the link to learn about the investment opportunities in manufacturing, industrial production and international trade currently available via EPZA: http://tanzaniainvest.com/exchange/1-investment/18-manufacturing-and-export
