14/11/ 2011

Singapore investors have been invited to grab business opportunities that will emerge following the declaration of Mtwara port as a free port zone.

Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) Acting Director General Lamau Mpolo said in Dar es Salaam over the weekend that plans were underway to declare Mtwara as a free port zone.

“EPZA is inviting oil and gas suppliers as well as service providers to locate and establish their operations in the envisaged Mtwara Free Port Zone,” Mr Mpolo told a 31-person business delegation from Singapore in Dar es Salaam.

He said Mtwara region was rich in natural gas, with huge potential for oil, “Deep sea exploration is in progress by major companies like Petrobras, British Gas and Orphir.”

The presence of oil and gas companies creates opportunity for investors to set up petrochemical processing and allied industries at Mtwara Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Mr Mpolo said, imploring investors from Singapore to consider investing in Tanzania.

Prospective investors can choose between investing in Export Processing Zones (EPZs) or Special Economic Zones (SEZs). For foreign investors to qualify under EPZ they have to create a new investment with at least 80 per cent of goods produced for export markets and 500,000 US dollars in annual turnover.

Local investors with 100,000 US dollars in annual turnover can qualify for investments under EPZ.

Under SEZ however potential foreign investors should have a minimum capital of 5 million US dollars while local investors’ capital requirement is 1 million US dollars. There is however no sales restrictions under SEZ—investors can decide to either export or sales locally.

Mr Mpolo invited investors under EPZ/SEZ, saying the programmes offer lucrative incentives ranging from fiscal, operational to infrastructural. Investors under EPZ for instance enjoy 10-year corporate tax holiday and duty and VAT exemptions on inputs, raw materials, capital goods and administrative vehicles.

The head of delegation who is also the Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Mr Lee Yi Shyan said Singapore investors have experience in the running of EPZ/SEZ scheme which they would wish to share with their Tanzanian counterparts.

Interested investors can undertake petrochemical processing, refinery, lubricants and liquefied gases.