*STATEMENT BY HON. DR. MOHAMMED GHARIB BILAL, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA, DURING THE EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR AWARD CEREMONY ON 5TH
DECEMBER 2013 AT THE HYATT REGENCY DAR ES SALAAM*
*Mr. Almas Maige, Chairperson of Association of Tanzania Employers (ATE),*
*Honourable Gaudentia M. Kabaka, (MP), Minister for Labour and Employment,*
*Mr. Guy Ryder, the ILO Director General (Headquarters); Geneva,*
*Mr. Alexio Musindo, Director of ILO office for Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and
Rwanda,*
*Mr. Nicholas Mgaya, Secretary General of Trade Union Congress of Tanzania
(TUCTA),*
*Distinguished Board Members of ATE,*
*Distinguished Members of ATE,*
*Distinguished invited participants,*
*Members of the Media,*
*Ladies and Gentlemen, *
When I received your invitation to join you in this important event, I was
very excited and felt honored to meet with employers but what came in my
mind is ‘How do we promote best practices in the Employment Sector? I am
very confident that the event of today will give us answers to many
questions pertaining to promoting productivity and competitiveness in
Tanzania through best practices. I understand that this is an annual event
focusing on bringing employers together while competing on best and
international human resources standards and practices.
The fact that you have brought together a good number of business people
shows your commitment to increase employment opportunities which will in
turn improve the living standard of our people. The government of Tanzania
has come with many development initiatives such as ‘Big Results Now’ (BRN)
which needs us to work together for its successful implementation.
*Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen,*
I am very happy to be part of this event which awards best employers in
Human Resources practice that I believe target to develop human resources
at enterprises as a vital element in the growth of sustainable enterprises.
I wish to commend the initiative by ATE to have this important annual
event. Based on such premise employers should be the main supporters and
promoters of world class initiatives in branding to attract, motivate,
engage and retain the best professional talents that an organization
requires to be competitive. I believe this is what the Employer of the
Year Award is all about.
*Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen,*
It is my understanding that the main motive of business enterprises is to
maximize profit and exist in business while that of employees is to improve
their wellbeing out of their earnings, apparently these two objectives of
employer and employees do not always complement each other and that is not
ideal. The fact remains that economic growth equation involves both,
employers and employees and therefore it is always encouraged to balance
between the two competing objectives, for sustained and improved business
competitiveness which is also the theme of this event.
*Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen,*
The issue of improving business environment in Tanzania calls for joint
efforts of both, government and the private sector. Our role as government
is to ensure availability of stable macroeconomic environment, peace
security and stability, effective regulatory institutions and political
will. Since employment is one of crosscutting issues, it is my expectation
that employers will be able to work with Ministries and other relevant
stakeholders to create employment. We are all involved in the process and
implementation of BRN an initiative which aims to revamp economic
production for the betterment of the nation. This development initiative
has worked successfully in some countries like Malaysia but, this can be
achieved through involvement of employers and employees. I believe that
employers are ready to cooperate with the government to ensure effective
implementation of this development plan.
As you mare be aware, this initiative needs us to make tremendous changes
in our production systems by getting rid of old and unproductive ways of
doing things to maximize production through high business performance. Our
aim is to enable Tanzanians to secure jobs in East Africa and elsewhere in
the world as far as free market is concerned. I know that we have very
limited job vacancies in the country but globally there are job
opportunities for skilled people. I urge fellow Tanzanians to work hard by
acquiring new skills which will help to penetrate in the global market with
confidence and determination.
*Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen,*
It is interesting to note that the *Employer of the Year Award 2013* has
included the opportunity for young entrepreneur of the year and this will
help to boost the morale of young entrepreneurs to foster business
development in the country. It is evident that Small Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) play great role in the economy and help to augment self-employment
spirit and create jobs. Many young entrepreneurs work in various sectors
such transportation, mining, private security, education, food and
beverages, and banking and finance sector. Many successful people in the
world have made through commitment and readiness to venture into new
markets by supplying new products and services. I urge young entrepreneurs
to be positive and the government is committed to create supportive
environment to enable business growth in all sectors. This new award for
Young Entrepreneur of the year should be a catalyst to all entrepreneurs to
increase production while at the same time promoting best practices at the
work place.
As we all know, Tanzania is a member of the EAC and in order to increase
competition in the labour market, Tanzania will continue to improve its
human resources to cater for the needs of East African Common Market and
the world at large. I therefore urge employers to coordinate with their
counterparts in the region and the rest of the world to promote strong
business integration by emphasizing on skills acquisition.
*Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen,*
It is a fact that government efforts alone cannot take Tanzania to be a
middle income economy which is what improved competitiveness is all about
but joint efforts between the government and the private sector. I
therefore call upon the private sector to engage in innovative industry
universities partnership with the aim of stimulating supply of quality and
skilled labour force, investing in ongoing capacity building of employees
to acquire new skills and knowledge in new field, to continue paying the
Skills and Development Levy (SDL) which support provision of vocational
trainings. I understand your concern that the levy rate is still the
highest in the region despite our effort to reduce it from six to five per
cent. My government through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs is
ready to work with employers to continually address this issue.
*Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen,*
I am not impressed by the fact that Tanzania economy is growing without
creation of new employment opportunities. This implies the need to be
creative to venture into new business environment which will enable more
people to get employment. My government is working hard to promote
favorable environment to attract internal and foreign investors by
addressing such critical issues like transport systems, water, electricity
and harmonious environment. It is my hope that you will continue engaging
with government whenever there is an issue of concern which needs
government intervention.
*Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen, *
My government is glad to receive proposals from the private sector, and
particularly employers to resolve the challenges facing employment creation
and sustainability. The principal attribute of your Association is
Employment. You create and sustain employment. This is a pressing charge in
these times where the rate of unemployment is increasing. Tanzania has been
unable to create enough jobs to significantly reduce unemployment
particularly for the youth despite impressive economic growth. Among other
factors contributing to this, is the fact that the age group which enters
the labour market is much larger than the age group that exits the market.
Because of the paucity of entrepreneurial skills, the skilled population
which can create jobs or take the initiative to self-employment is
relatively small.
*Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen,*
As I said before, the implementation of BRN initiative needs us to take
action, and you can agree with me that we need commitment to achieve this
plan. My government urges employers to first of all invest in human
resource development. Even with entrepreneurship, there must be people with
appropriate education and skills, and therefore the industry and the
learning institutions should work together to identify the required skills.
Where production skills are lacking and market knowledge is deficient,
products will not find markets even at home, let alone on the regional and
global markets.
*Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen,*
I wish to re-emphasize that the more successful your business enterprises
are, the more tax revenue we collect and the more we are able to fulfill
our obligations of state administration, ensuring law and order as well as
our economic functions including that of creating conducive environment for
the private sector to thrive. Of course, if you succeed in creating wealth
and the people who are the electorate will be happy and you will make the
country a good place to live considering the adage that *‘A hungry man is
an angry man’!* Our major aim as a nation should be to promote a WIN-WIN
situation between employers and employees, buyers and sellers.
*Mr. Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen,*
I wish to finally convey my sincere gratitude to all participants for
making this award feasible and attractive. I also congratulate all the
winners who have shown outstanding HR practices which mean experience and
good practices should be shared among you so that others can learn more and
improve on what they have been doing. For those who will not be awarded
here today should take this as a call for more action to improve so that
they do better in future.
I have also been informed that the event has been made possible by the
financial contribution of some of ATE members namely: Ultimate Security
Tanzania (Platinum), CRDB (Gold), NMB (Gold) SSTL (Bronze), NIC (Bronze),
SSRA (Bronze), PPF (Bronze), NSSF (Bronze) Stanbic Bank (Bronze), TCC
(Bronze), Akiba Commercial Bank (Bronze), ECO Bank Tanzania Ltd (Bronze),
You have also received tremendous support from ILO Dar es Salaam, CCBRT/EU
and the National Housing Corporation. Government highly appreciates and
recognizes this support and expects more sponsorship next time.
Thank you for your kind attention and kindly enjoy the EYA 2013.