VZCZCXRO7025
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHDR #0351/01 1520609
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 010609Z JUN 09
FM AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8552
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 2898
RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI 1354
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3429
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 1290
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAR ES SALAAM 000351 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS AID, PEACE CORPS; AF FOR JLIDDLE, FEHRENREICH, 
AF/EPS; COMMERCE FOR BERKUL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ECON EINV EAID TZ
SUBJECT: PRESIDENT KIKWETE AND CODEL ISAKSON DISCUSS 
BILATERAL ASSISTANCE 
 
REF: A. DAR ES SALAAM 164 
     ¶B. DAR ES SALAAM 206 AND PRIOR 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  President Jakaya Kikwete welcomed visiting 
Senators Isakson and Corker to State House on May 28.  On 
bilateral issues, Kikwete reiterated points he raised during 
his recent Washington meetings.  He emphasized the strong 
U.S.-Tanzania relationship and reviewed the impact of the 
global financial crisis on Tanzania's economy.  Kikwete 
expressed appreciation for U.S. support on health and 
education and asked for additional support for secondary 
education.  In response to Kikwete's request for help 
attracting investment, CDA noted that the GOT could take 
steps to improve Tanzania's business climate, in particular 
by resolving the ongoing tax dispute involving APR Energy. 
Kikwete's discussion of regional issues is described septel. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Referring to his recent meetings with President 
Obama and Secretary Clinton, Kikwete welcomed the senators by 
expressing his pleasure at the strong relationship between 
Tanzania and the United States. He said Tanzania is making 
steady progress on reform measures, despite their difficulty. 
 Kikwete said the impact of the global economic downturn had 
led the GOT to revise its projections for economic growth 
downward, to 5-6 percent as compared to the 8 percent 
previously predicted.  He said that declining demand for 
Tanzanian export commodities, in particular cotton, is a 
serious challenge.  He said the GOT is working toward 
solutions, such as through a plan to guarantee loans to 
cotton farmers (see ref a). 
 
¶3. (SBU) On education, Kikwete stressed that increased 
investment, particularly in the sciences, is a top priority. 
With a 98 percent enrollment rate, primary education is a 
Tanzanian success story.  He said his goal to have at least 
one secondary school in every ward was achieved three years 
ahead of schedule: there are now approximately 2,700 
secondary schools in 2,500 wards.  Kikwete attributed this 
success to overwhelming demand for secondary education.  He 
observed that keeping up with such demand will be difficult, 
given the lack of trained teachers, books and other tools 
such as lab equipment.  He renewed his request for additional 
Peace Corps Volunteers to serve as science teachers and 
applauded a textbook donation from South Carolina State 
University. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Kikwete noted his particular interest in developing 
Tanzania's Information Technology sector through tertiary 
education.  He described a three step process: 1) providing 
better access to the information highway via the fiber optic 
network (see ref a); 2) training IT professionals; and 3) 
applying information technology across sectors.  Kikwete also 
hoped that promotion of e-Government solutions will help in 
the fight against corruption by reducing the amount of 
person-to-person contact required in official transactions. 
(Note: this is a particular focus of a new electronic 
clearance system used by the Tanzania Ports Authority.) 
Kikwete also highlighted various private U.S.-Tanzania 
partnerships in IT.  While in California earlier in the 
month, he requested that Stanford University oversee the 
development of the IT training school at the University of 
Dar es Salaam.  IBM recently donated 28,000 technical books 
to the University of Dodoma. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Moving on to the health sector, Kikwete praised the 
support that Tanzania has received from the U.S.  Calling the 
President's Malaria Initiative "extraordinary," he cited the 
almost total eradication of malaria on Zanzibar and a fifty 
percent decrease on the mainland.  He stressed the need for a 
focus on sustainability in the wake of such impressive 
results.  He also highlighted the U.S. role in promoting 
Voluntary Counseling and Testing for HIV/AIDS.  In response 
to Senator Isakson's statement that the U.S. would continue 
supporting Tanzania in the health sector, Kikwete expressed 
relief, saying he had been worried about the U.S. abandoning 
Tanzania under the new Administration. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Senators Corker and Isakson asked President Kikwete 
how else the U.S. might support Tanzania economically, and 
suggested promotion of FDI.  Kikwete agreed that FDI was a 
 
DAR ES SAL 00000351  002 OF 002 
 
 
top priority and noted that he plans to return to the U.S. 
later this year for an investment conference.  Saying he 
hopes Tanzania will achieve middle-income status by 2025, he 
welcomed the support of the senators to sell Tanzania to U.S. 
businesses and potential investors.  CDA took this 
opportunity to point out treatment of past or current 
investors is key to the decisions of potential investors in 
Tanzania.  He cited the negative experience of U.S.-based APR 
Energy, whose tax dispute with the GOT would deter future 
investment (especially in the energy sector, where investment 
is badly needed).  CDA said resolution of current disputes 
would make the investment climate much more attractive. 
Kikwete said that the APR case was on course for resolution. 
(See ref b re APR). 
ANDRE