Sources from the Ministry of Commerce of China say that bilateral trade between the two countries in the first nine months of 2006 hit $390 million, up 12 percent year on year. According to the African Economic Outlook 2006/2007 released by the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Shanghai in May, Tanzania is among the fastest growing countries in East Africa.

On May 16, Abdisalaam Issa Khatibu, Deputy Minister for Finance of Tanzania, shared his views on Sino-Tanzanian relations and the role of AfDB with Beijing Review reporter Ni Yanshuo at the AfDB 2007 annual meeting in Shanghai.

Beijing Review: What do you think of AfDB’s role in Africa’s economic and social development?

Abdisalaam Issa Khatibu: I think the role of AfDB is very important, mainly to help African countries launch development projects in order to ensure that they can conquer development-related obstacles. This can greatly benefit these African countries. AfDB can also promote their social development, depending upon projects in different countries. Many African countries have projects related to social development. And social development, as you know, contains many things like education and health. Actually, AfDB has already done quite a tremendous job in this regard. So we expect that they will do even better than before.

What specifically has the AfDB done to help your country’s development?

AfDB has done a lot for Tanzania in terms of infrastructure construction and social development. They have done magnificent work in building hospitals and medical centers in Tanzania, as well as some other small projects. AfDB has also done a lot for the water supply construction in my country. Presently they are working on infrastructure development. There are some other examples. AfDB is helping us in rural development, including some regional projects. I call them regional projects because they involve Tanzania and some neighboring countries like Kenya. These countries are cooperating in some particular projects.

The theme of this year’s annual meeting is “Africa and Asia, Partners in Development.” How do you define the theme?

I think it is a good theme because we want to learn from our good friends and our brothers and sisters from Asia. They [some Asian countries] became developed through agriculture. Some African countries are now following their examples, you see. And there are very practical examples. You know we are now in Pudong. Twenty years back, Pudong was not like it is now. At that time, it was only a place of agriculture. Now, you can see skyscrapers here because the infrastructure here has been developed. Pudong is now the commercial center of Shanghai. This is a very good example that we should follow.

China possesses 20 percent of the world’s population; it has a developed infrastructure and its social development is far ahead. Why shouldn’t we take China as an example for the development of my country?

In recent years there’s been a boom in relations between China and African countries. How do you perceive the relationship between China and Tanzania?

China and Tanzania have always had good relations. Tanzania is among the African countries that have had a long-standing relationship with China. You know that Tan-Zam Railway, connecting Tanzania and Zambia, was constructed by China. The railway is now contributing a great deal to the economic and social development in that region. It greatly helps commodity imports and exports in both Tanzania and Zambia. China has also done a lot for us in terms of medical facilities and health services. Our friendship with China is continuing. And they are doing even more for us than they have in the past.

Prior to the opening of the AfDB annual meeting this year, Vice Governor of People’s Bank of China Xiang Junbo spoke about China’s experience in developing its rural regions through development finance institutions. What is the status of these institutions in Tanzania, and what efforts are our two countries making in this regard?

Yes, we do have development finance institutions in my country, and the finance institutions of our two countries come together when some bilateral projects have been developed. We are also looking to cooperate on some other projects with your country through the Export and Import Bank of China.

Which sectors do you think require stronger cooperation between our countries?

We have started [cooperating]. We are still exploiting some other projects for the development of Tanzania, for the betterment of my country. We are looking for something that can mutually benefit both countries in terms of investment and trade, because there are certain things and commodities that we can also sell to China. In the past, it was only China assisting us; there were no mutually beneficial channels. We are now able to change the assistance mode so that we can get benefits from each other.

Trade between China and Tanzania has skyrocketed in recent years. However, there is still a trade deficit on Tanzania’s side. What measures have been taken to change this situation?

When China looks to develop rapidly, surely there will be some commodities that it can buy from Tanzania. We’ve got good coffee, tea and sugar. I believe that thanks to our advantages in these areas, we can balance our trade with China.