TANZANIA/G8 PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCED

President Jakaya Kikwete and British Prime Minister David Cameron have announced new Tanzania/G8 Partnerships on Land Transparency and Extractives Transparency, according to the British High Commission in Dar es Salaam.

They did so in London on Saturday during a pre-G8 Summit event known as ‘Open for Growth’ to which President Kikwete was invited by Prime Minister Cameron. It discussed trade, tax and transparency with global business, civil society and other governments.

It was noted at the event that freer trade, fairer taxes and greater transparency are critical issues for global prosperity, jobs and sustainable development. The event focused on practical action in advance of the two-day G8 Summit opening in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland, today.

The Land Transparency Partnership agreement, developed between Tanzania and the UK leading for the G8, commits to creating an accountable, transparent and sustainable land administration able to deal with increasing pressure on land in Tanzania.

Canada is taking a leadership role within the G8 in working with Tanzania on the Transparency in the Extractives Sector agreement. This is focused on increasing transparency in the oil, gas and mining sectors to help ensure Tanzanian citizens derive the maximum benefit from their natural resources.

Both partnerships involve joint work with companies, civil society organisations and other development partners.

Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development minister Prof Anna Tibaijuka and her Energy and Minerals counterpart, Prof Sospeter Muhongo contributed a Tanzanian perspective to the debate on lands and extractives transparency at Saturday’s Open for Growth event.

Discussion also centred on how countries can work together to remove barriers to trade, recognising Africa and the G8’s shared interest in strengthening trade. Cameron stated that the UK is fully behind African Leaders’ goal of doubling intra-African trade by 2022 and backing the continent to improve infrastructure to promote trade within the continent.

On tax, Cameron said: “At the G8 Summit I’m going to push for international agreements to fight the scourge of tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance. That means automatic exchange of information between our tax authorities – so those who want to evade taxes have nowhere to hide.”

He announced that all of the UK’s overseas territories and crown dependencies have agreed to sign up to the multi-lateral convention on information exchange.
At the Summit the G8 leaders will hold each other to account and agree concrete steps to advance growth and prosperity across the world.

The combined action on trade, tax and transparency during the UK’s G8 Presidency will lay the foundations of long-term growth and prosperity for generations to come and to support the development of open economies, open governments and open societies.