Newly appointed Norwegian Minister visits Tanzania 7-8 May
OSLO, Norway, May 7, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- It is a signal of the strong partnership between our two countries that Mr. Heikki Holmås has chosen Tanzania to be the very first African country he visits following his recent appointment as Norwegian Minister for International Development.
In Tanzania Mr. Holmås will among others have the pleasure to meet Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements, Prof. Anna Tibaijuka. He will also travel to Mufindi to learn about Norwegian-Tanzanian collaboration in the area of forestry and the role of local villages in sustainable forest management and income generation. The newly appointed Minister is very interested in how Tanzania and Norway work together to increase Tanzania's own income generation as well as equitable distribution of this income.
- Tanzania is rich in natural resources. An important part of our collaboration today is aimed at improving Tanzania's own income generation, through improved tax administration. This is critical to achieve our shared vision for pro-poor development, says Norwegian Ambassador Ms Ingunn Klepsvik.
During his stay in Tanzania the Minister will also officiate the opening of a seminar on illicit financial flows, organised by Bank of Tanzania. Illegal capital flows across national boundaries represent a huge financial loss to governments all over Africa. It is estimated that Tanzania lost between USD 5.1 billion and USD 6.7 billion between 1970 and 2004 due to illegal capital flight.
- I am very happy that the Minister will participate in this seminar on illicit capital flows. Studies have shown that enormous amounts of money flow illegally out of Africa every year. Illicit capital flows undermine state building, promote corruption, facilitates crime and destabilise the financial system, says Ambassador Klepsvik.
In 2011 Norwegian development assistance to Tanzania was 107 million USD. Out of this 43 million USD was provided as General Budget Support