The government has said national quality awards competition organised by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) is a fundamental initiative that would help the country penetrate the wider African business market. The Minister for Industry and Trade, Prof. Kitila Mkumbo directed the Ministry of Industry and Trade as well as the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) to make sure they take seriously this initiative to benefit the country's economy.
Prof. Mkumbo made the remarks in Dar es Salaam on Monday at the launch of the national quality awards competition organised by SADC in collaboration with TBS and the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF). He said the participation of the Tanzanian business community in the awards is of paramount importance particularly after the government had ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The pact connects 1,3 billion people across 55 countries with a combined gross domestic product (GDP) valued at 3,4 trillion US Dollars. He said this is a big economy and that Tanzania will participate in the awards competition to compete and penetrate the wider regional and continental market. "It is high time that we produce high-quality products for ease penetration in the regional markets. The launching of the national awards is concurring with the government efforts geared at raising the quality of goods and services," he said.
He said for the locally made products to meet the regional and international standards is important not only in the participation of the SADC awards but also in penetrating the wide markets. He said this is the first time for Tanzania to take part in the SADC awards and thus it is important to engage closely the business community participates actively in the competition.
The TBS Director General, Dr. Yusuf Ngenya the national awards aimed to promote the business sector through the advancement of the quality of goods and services in the SADC region. The implementation of the initiative follows the agreement reached among SADC members to recognise and promote the business sector through the quality of goods and services. He said the awards are part of the government plans to improve goods and services produced in the country through the use of TBS quality standards thus ensuring that they meet the national quality standards.
He said the efforts are fundamental in promoting sustainable development of the society, especially in the fourth industrial revolution. He said the competition will focus on five aspects namely award to the best company of the year, best product of the year, best service of the year, the best seller of the year and award to a best individual who did well on issues related to quality standards.
He explained that the awards were prepared based on two categories namely for large scale companies and small scale companies. He added the launching of the 2021/2022 awards will go along with the granting of awards for the year 2020 through the competition organised by TBS, Small Industries Development Organisation (SIDO), TPSF, Zanzibar Bureau of Standards (ZBS) and TanTrade.