By Ebi Kesiena
Tanzanian contractor working on the LPG plant project at Dongo Kundu in Mombasa has appealed to President William Ruto to help remove trade barriers hampering businesses in the East African Ccountry region.
Rostam Aziz, the brains behind Taifa Gas Investment SEZ Limited that’s undertaking the Sh16 billion Liquefied Petroleum Gas project said it’s cheaper to import goods from say China to Tanzania than from Kenya.
“Cross-border business between our countries is hard and faces a lot of barriers. It is way cheaper to import goods from China, India or Dubai but importing goods from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda is a very hard task. Mr President this is not okay, we should not be like this,” Aziz said.
He asked President Ruto to reach out to his counterparts in the East African Community member states and strike out all the barriers that are making business between the countries hard.
Aziz said leaders in the EAC region are known to be keen on supporting and advocating for a favourable business environment between member states.
He said relaxing or scrapping all trade barriers will open up borders and play a key role in enhancing the economies of the EAC member states.
“We are lucky Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda are led by Presidents who believe in growing the economies of their countries. They believe in neighbourliness and as such know the benefit of a cohesive business environment,” he said.
Aziz urged heads of state in the EAC region to take advantage of that common goal and create a conducive environment that will allow ease of doing business between their countries.
“That is such big luck we have never had before. We now have it, let us use it well, open our borders and expand our businesses like brothers.”
Taifa Gas Investment SEZ Limited broke ground on Friday and is expected to complete the project in 12 months.
President William Ruto witnessed the groundbreaking ceremony for a plant at Dongo Kundu where the government has allocated the investor a 30-acre land parcel for the project.
The facility will include an LPG plant, a storage terminal and related amenities.
