I would like to welcome you to the website of the Embassy of the United Republic of Tanzania to Cuba. As we say in Kiswahili, Karibuni sana. The Embassy of the United Republic of Tanzania in Cuba. Its principal function is to promote political economic and cultural cooperation with Cuba and the other countries in the area of accreditation.
Tanzania is well endowed with abundant natural resources. These include ample arable land, and mineral resources such as gold, diamonds, base metals such as nickel, cobalt and copper coal, iron ore and uranium as well as gemstones such as rubies, sapphire and Tanzanite. It also has world reknown tourist attractions, including the Ngorongoro Crater, the Serengeti, the Selous Game Reserve, Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, as well as the spice islands of Zanzibar and Pemba.
Despite these resources Tanzania still faces challenges in improving the welfare of its people, because it lacks capital, skills and the technological resources required to exploit its natural wealth. The Government has been working hard to overcome the many challenges facing our country, in terms of improving the business climate and infrastructure, so as to ensure that Tanzania remains a leading investment destination in the coming years.
Over the past two decades, Tanzania has been transformed from a centrally planned economy to a market oriented system through the implementation of legal, regulatory and institutional reforms. The Government has encouraged private sector led growth, through the restoration of market forces and less interference in commercial activities. Continuing reforms in fiscal and monetary policy and improvements in the business climate through legal and regulatory reform are aimed at streamlining procedures and freeing businesses from unnecessary bureaucracy.
These reforms have created a stable and attractive macro and micro economic climate, which has in turn resulted in positive growth trends and impressive macro-economic indicators. In this connection, investments have a crucial role to play in helping us achieve the objective of improving the welfare of Tanzanians. Not only will investment create new jobs, but will also bring new skills and technology to the country, which will in turn improve our ability to compete in the global economy.
Tanzania has many strengths and opportunities. Its strategic location makes it a natural East African hub for investors seeking to exploit resources and a growing market of 527 million consumers in the Eastern and Southern African regions. In Tanzania, opportunities abound in for all types of investments from tourism to mining and from farming to financial services and ICT.
We are also looking to investors to create partnerships to help us improve the economic infrastructure of our country. The Tanzanian government aims to work in partnership with the private sector to identify and exploit all opportunities that will improve our ability to compete. This website is intended to provide a wide range of information on Tanzania, as well as to provide important links, where additional information on Tanzania can be easily accessed. May I take this opportunity to welcome you to Tanzania and to assure you that your investments will be safe in Tanzania.
I thank you all.
HIS EXCELLENCE AMBASSADOR HUMPHREY H. POLEPOLE
Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania in Havana, Cuba