TANZANIANS URGED TO BUY LOCALLY-MADE PRODUCTS

THE government has launched a countrywide ‘Be Proud, Buy Tanzanian’ campaign to promote and market locally-made products to reduce trade gaps with imported products.

Launching the campaign at the Mwalimu J. K. Nyerere Fair Grounds in Dar es Salaam yesterday, the Vice-President, Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan, said it would boost consumption of locally produced products through enhanced standards, quality and packaging.

She elaborated that the initiative is in line with the government’s plans to transform the country into an industrial-powered economy. "All local producers should register their products with Tanzania bar-code 620.

This will be one of the prerequisite at the Tanzania Bureau of Standard (TBS) for a product to be certified," she emphasised. Ms Samia told the gathering that a waver will be adopted for some enterprises without the bar-code.

"At the later stage, we will consider whether to ban products without the 620 bar-code or impose some sanctions ... that can be reached after a consensus with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment," she said.

Under the same arrangement, the government will help formalise a big number of small and medium-sized businesses to effectively contribute to the national gross domestic products (GDP).

About 16,000 bar-codes have been issued by the five-year old GS1 and the vice-president was of the view that should the plan be successful, more women who are in the core business will benefit.

“Women play a vital role in the national economy development,” she observed, noting that the contribution of women in Tanzania to the national cake has not been documented. ‘’But with time and more effort, such contribution by women can steadily improve,” Ms Samia hoped.

The VP challenged the Tanzania Women’s Chamber of Commerce (TWCC) to set up business platforms countrywide to help more women to boost their businesses.

She directed all regional authorities to prepare plans to empower women by connecting them to extension services, including health, education and agriculture.

“They must feed them (women) with proper knowledge,” she said, noting that the majority of businesswomen still lacked business acumen to improve their activities.

She was optimistic that it was only through brainstorming platforms that women will be able to mainstream public and private services.

The Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Charles Mwijage, insisted that no locally produced products will be certified by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) without being registered by GS1. GS1 is an international commercial organisation.

Until, 2004 it was known as European Article Numbering-Uniform Code Council. According to the minister, plans to build an industrial economy require developing a formal standard of SMEs, which can maximise job creation. About 99.5 per cent of jobs come from small and mediumsized enterprises in the country, he noted. “We’re in a globalised world.

We are as well striving for improved products to win the market ... the new requirements will push producers to improve their products,” he remarked. The government has assured SMEs and the women’s chamber of commerce to improve a mechanism that will increase their contribution to the GDP.

TWCC Chairperson, Ms Jacqueline Maleko, told the vice-president the women’s platforms will facilitate trade among themselves across the country. She announced that the chamber has already registered 11 business platforms through joint border committees.