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JK akipozi na wajumbe wa kamati ya utendaji ya bbb baada ya kuizindua. nimejaribu kutafsiri hotuba yake alitoa lakini nimeubunda. hivyo kunradhi, naomba mbangaize hivyo hivyo....

STATEMENT BY H.E. JAKAYA MRISHO KIKWETE,
PRESIDENT OF TANZANIA, AT THE LAUNCH OF BUSINESS PLAN COMPETITION BELIEVE BEGIN BECOME (BBB)
PROGRAM, KILIMANJARO HOTEL,
JUNE 12TH, 2007

Hon. Juma Ngasongwa, Minister for Planning, Economy and Empowerment;
Hon. Basil Mramba, Minister for Trade, Industry, and Marketing;
Mrs. Janet Mbene, Business Plan Competition Coordinator;
Linda Serge, from Google Organisation;
Members of the Organising Committee;
Esteemed Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen.

I thank you very much for associating me with this very important event. I warmly welcome to Tanzania all our guests from overseas. I am particularly excited that this initiative is being implemented very fast from the moment we started initial discussions four months. Perhaps let me indulge in a bit of a history.

On 26th January, 2007, while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, I held a meeting with Dr. Larry Brilliant, Executive Director of Google Organisation, Mr. Bruce McNamer, President and CEO of TechnoServe and Dr. Judith Rodin, President of the Rockefeller Foundation.

Google was looking for opportunities to carry its responsibilities as a Global Citizen. They informed me that they were keen to promote entrepreneurship development and that they were going to work with the Technoserve in this regard. The latter have a long experience of working the Africa and Tanzania in particular, so working together with them will be useful.
At the meeting, we exchanged ideas and agreed on areas in which the Government of Tanzania could collaborate with Google Organisation and TechnoServe to promote entrepreneurship development and job creation in Tanzania.

I deeply appreciate the idea of Google and , Technoserve coming together to do something that will create jobs, promote the growth of private sector and entrepreneurship in Tanzania. I readily welcomed the idea and invited them to work with us in the realisation of this noble ideal. I did so hurriedly because what was being proposed was in line with my government’s central objective of raising economic growth and creating jobs.

I understand that since the time of our meeting in Davos, Google and TechnoServe have spent time working with the Government and various stake-holders in identifying specific modalities for cooperation, especially in the areas of SME development and entrepreneurship. I am very delighted that things are now taking good shape. The organisation and sponsorship of this first National Business Plan Competition speaks volume about the good things to come. I feel proud, as all of you do, to stand before you to launch the Believe, Begin, Become Programme and the first National Business Plan Competition in Tanzania.

Friends,

Tanzania has many people with entrepreneurial spirit whose dreams can be turned into reality with the kind of support to be provided by Google and TechnoServe.

They are faced with a number of constraints which impede their progress. Principal among them are problems related to access to capital, technology as well as managerial skills. The Believe Begin Become initiative is a shot in the arm that comes at the right time. This is the time when this support is needed most.

It is for this reason, therefore, that the launching of the Google.org and TechnoServe Business Plan Competition is a timely and important event. That is why we all welcome and support this decision and action.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is heartwarming indeed to learn that an excellent job has been done in terms of assessing the work that is already taking place in the SME sector in Tanzania. Our Government has been supportive of this process and we promise to continue doing so as you move forward into the second phase that will involve further refining and prioritizing your focus and crafting programs and partnerships that will lead to meaningful and sustainable outcomes.

Ladies and Gentlemen;

I sincerely hope that this competition will have a countrywide participation, and will be accessible to entrepreneurs of all levels, engaging in all sorts of ventures.

We in government look forward with a lot of anxiety and expectations about the outcome of this initiative. We want it to succeed and, we shall do everything possible to see that happen. We expect the programme to promote economic growth and private sector development through its interventions such as:

· Supporting the creation and growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs);
· Building capacity through imparting necessary business skills, knowledge and ideas to promising entrepreneurs;
· Overcoming business start-up constraints in particular lack of working tools and capital;
· Improving quality of products;
· Overcoming competition and increasing access to markets and;
· Increasing access to business information and modern technology, including ICT;
· Expanding investment and business opportunities; and
· Creation of role model entrepreneurs.

Ladies and Gentlemen;

Ultimately, we hope that the BBB programme will in many ways be one of the major sources of creating jobs in the country which is one of the major challenges facing our country today.

We also expect the BBB programme to come out with suggestions on how the Government can further improve the investment and business climate. I know, we have travelled many miles in terms of transforming our economy from a state controlled one to market-based. Creating an investment and business climate that is conducive for growth of business and the private sector surely becomes a huge challenge. I am glad over the years we have risen to the challenge with success. However, as President Mkapa once said: “there is one room that will never be full. And that is the room for improvement”. So, there is still a room for more improvement. In this regard, we would be delighted to listen to your views as we have always to many friends. Please, feel free to share with us your valuable impression and views.

My good friend Larry Brilliant rightly observed when we met in Davos, “Tanzania is home to many visionary entrepreneurs who, with additional business skills, tools and some capital can transform their business ideas into successful enterprises”. We hope those impressions will be translated into action soon after the Business Plan Competition ends and decisions to go ahead to the implementation stage are made.

It is my sincere hope that through the Believe Begin Become programme, which you have designed to help Tanzanian entrepreneurs to develop entrepreneurial and managerial skills, to obtain seed or expansion capital, to better plan and manage their enterprises, to find markets and potentially other investments, the private sector in Tanzania will have gotten the right shot in the arm to propel it to greater heights. We in the Government assure you of our unqualified support to the programme.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for your kind attention.