Moving her ministry’s budget estimates in the National Assembly, the minister said apart from East African countries — Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, exports to SADC, Europe, America and the Gulf also surged.
Dr Nagu said SADC countries imported goods worth 443.4 million US dollars from Tanzania last year, up from 301.1 million US dollars recorded in 2007, reflecting an increase of 47.3 per cent.
The minister said Tanzania imported goods worth 6,439.9 million US dollars last year as compared to 4,860.6 million US dollars in 2007, she said. The industrial sector in the country grew by 9.9 per cent last year as opposed to the 8.7 per cent in 2007.
The minister asked the House to endorse 26,498,512,000/- to be spent on the ministry on recurrent votes and 29,206,157,000/- on development projects. Dr Nagu told the House that the manufacturing sector had 92,015 employees last year, up from 91,112 in 2007.
She said three cement factories — Tanzania Portland Cement Company (TPCC), Tanga Cement Company (TCC) and Mbeya Cement Company (MCC) had a combined production of 1,770,000 tonnes of cement in 2007.
She said the demand for cement made TPCC to expand its factory and increase production to 1,400,000 tonnes annually, boosting the country’s output to 2,970,000 tonnes this year.
The minister said that Minjingu Fertilizer Factory, which has an installed production capacity of 60,000 tonnes a year, increased production from 6,500 tonnes in 2005 to 40,000 tonnes last year.
The factory expects to start producing NPK fertilizer this year and increase output to 75,000 tonnes a year. The factory has a workforce of 441.
Dr Nagu told the House that establishment of new textile mills boosted production from 99.1 million square metres of cloth in 2005 to 150 million square metres last year, an increase of 34 per cent.
However, she said, the sector utilises only 20 per cent of locally produced cotton. The rest of cotton is exported raw.
Daily News
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