East African Cooperation minister Dr Diodorous Kamala has challenged Tanzanians to add value to their products so that they can compete with other countries in the region. Speaking during his familiarisation visit to the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, Dr Kamala said Tanzanians should first be proud of their country`s products before selling them outside. He said people must learn to love their own products and have confidence that Tanzanian goods were the best than any other on the continent.

``We must add value to our products if we really want to compete. We have to stop exporting raw materials, otherwise our economy will remain dormant,`` he said. Dr Kamala said there was no need to create fears on business competition, but put deliberate efforts to ensuring that Tanzanian products penetrated and dominated the African market. The minister challenged CTI to ensure that exports to Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda were increased because currently the country exported much to Kenya, whose products were more advanced compared to Tanzania`s. He said there was great opportunity for Tanzanian products to penetrate the Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda markets because ``our industries and products are nearly the same - if not much better``. - Source: The Guardian