By Prosper Makene
On October 28, the South Korean government signed soft loan agreements with the Government of the United of Republic of Tanzania in Seoul to provide 310bn/- to the East African nation for the expansion of the National Identification Authority (NIDA) system and development and maintenance of land information coordination.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Tanzania Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa and his counterpart South Korean Han Duck-soo.
Speaking at the sideline of the signing ceremony, Tanzania’s Prime Minister saluted for the support from the South Korean government, saying: “Tanzania and South Korea are proud of the relations that have lasted for 30 years.”
The Premier added: “We are also expressing our gratitude to the South Korean government for being among the nations, which support our country in addressing various development challenges through Korea Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF).”
On his part, Tanzania’s Finance and Planning Permanent Secretary, Emmanuel Tutuba said: “The support will enhance the National Identification Authority (NIDA) system in expanding its identification systems capacity to process fast enough more Identity Cards and maintain data storage.”
The Permanent Secretary also said that the soft loan will also help NIDA to focus on rural areas and speed up IDs registration.
“The agreement will also help the Ministry of Land, Housing and Human Settlement Development to have a new digital system for keeping information,” Tutuba said in Seoul at the sideline of the signing ceremony.
However, the loan will be provided by Korea Exim Bank and will be used for the second phase expansion of NIDA identification system worth 161bn/- and the development and maintenance of the land information system pegged at 149bn/-.
Tanzania and South Korea diplomatic relations
On April 30, 1992, the Republic of Korea and the United Republic of Tanzania established diplomatic relations. Since then the two countries have indeed continued to develop their friendship and cooperation in many mutually beneficial fields.
The Korean embassy in Tanzania has been making every effort to ensure that bilateral relations between our two countries do not weaken.
In 2021, two Korean companies were awarded new contracts in the field of repairing of Tanzanian vessels and providing locomotives to Standard Gauge Railroad project, which is the one of the most essential national development projects in Tanzania.
In the field of official development assistance (ODA), the Republic of Korea selected the United Republic of Tanzania as one of its 3rd-term priority partnership countries among 26 for the years 2021 to 2025. Korea has therefore been sharing its development experience in various areas, such as healthcare, education, spanning agriculture, fisheries, vocational training, ICT, water management, infrastructure development, through a variety of Korean organizations including the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) and the Korea Foundation for International Healthcare (KOFIH).
As the private sector’s development cooperation partners for Tanzania, a number of Korean NGOs, representatives of religious communities and volunteers, in a spirit of humanitarianism, have been working devotedly, together with Tanzanians in various places around the country. In these ways, the Republic of Korea said that will continue to make valuable efforts to play its own part in contributing to the full accomplishment of the “Tanzania Development Vision 2025” of becoming a middle income country by 2025 through industrialization.
The Korean Embassy in Tanzania hopes that Koreans living in Tanzania also play an important role in nurturing mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of Korea and Tanzania, as it wishes for their success in their own fields.
