The government of Japan on Friday granted the government of
Tanzania 200 million yen (about 1.8 million U.S. dollars) to support the
revival of state-run Tanzania Fisheries Corporation (TAFICO), including
the purchase of fishing vessel.
The signing of exchange of notes for the grant was made in the
commercial capital Dar es Salaam between the Permanent Secretary in the
Ministry of Finance and Planning Doto James and Acting head of mission
of the Japanese Embassy in Tanzania Katsutoshi Takeda.
James thanked Japan for the grant, saying the revival of TAFICO
ranked high in the Tanzanian government’s development agenda which
sought to improve the socio-economic well-being of citizens.
Under the grant, said the official, TAFICO will buy a multi-purpose
fishing vessel with the ability of freezing at least five days of
fishing trips.
He said the grant will also enable TAFICO to secure an ice making
plant, a cold room storage, fishing gear for workshop marine, a
refrigerated vehicle and pickup vehicle for supplying fish.
“This project will increase fish export and stabilize national food
security. In addition, it will improve fish processing, value addition
and marketing and reduce fish post-harvest loss,” said James.
He said the growth rate of the fisheries sector was 9.2 percent in
2018, which was higher than 8.4 percent recorded in 2017, attributed
mostly to proper management of fish hatcheries, including privately
owned ponds and increased demand for fish and fish products in the
domestic and foreign markets.
The share of fisheries sector in gross domestic products was 1.7 percent in 2018, which confirmed that fishing was important to the economy, said James. Enditem.
