2018-04-12 22:10 update: 2018-09-26, 17:32
Polish Embassy opens in Tanzania Photo: PAP/Jacek Turczyk
"I hope that the opening of a new Polish Embassy in Tanzania will add new dynamics to Polish-Tanzanian relations," Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said during the inauguration of a Polish diplomatic mission in Dar es Salaam.
"The embassy opens at a time when Tanzania has been growing more and more attractive to Polish business and tourists," Minister Czaputowicz said.
The embassy's opening was attended by Tanzanian Foreign Minister Augustine Mahiga, Apostolic Nuncio Marek Solczynski, businesspeople and representatives of the Polish Diaspora, the Polish Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement on Thursday.
The Polish Embassy in Dar es Salaam has reopened nine years after its closure, to support the development of economic contacts, offer development aid and provide consular assistance to Polish citizens. The embassy will also cover Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi and the Comoros, the Foreign Ministry reported.
Tanzania is one of the main beneficiaries of Polish development aid, including a Polish government USD 110 million credit for agriculture modernisation, and one of Poland's priority partners in Sub-Saharan Africa (alongside Ethiopia, Kenya and Senegal).
Tanzania is also a very popular destination for Polish tourists. In 2017, the number of Poles visiting Tanzania exceeded 10,000.
Minister Czaputowicz also held a meeting with Minister Mahiga, during which he told his Tanzanian counterpart that Poland hoped to reanimate bilateral cooperation.
The meeting focused on political and economic cooperation, development assistance and the political and security situation in East Africa. The two sides paid much attention to the crisis situations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, and the role played by Tanzania in solving them. The Polish official presented Poland's priorities during its non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council, with special emphasis on Africa, the Foreign Ministry wrote.
Minister Czaputowicz stressed that Poland understood the importance of peace and security in Africa and added that these matters were very significant on the UN Security Council agenda.
While in Tanzania, Minister Czaputowicz met with Kitila Mkumbo, the Deputy Minister of Water and Irrigation, with whom he discussed the possibilities of cooperation in water management, also within the OECD. The Polish official also held a meeting with representatives of the Polish Diaspora and businesspeople operating in Africa. (PAP)
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