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Daily Archives: June 24, 2012

Kutoka Bungeni: Serikali Kulinda Viwanda Vya Ndani

Serikali imekubali mapendekezo ya wabunge ya kuongeza kima cha chini cha mapato ya wafanyabiashara yanayotozwa kodi kutoka shilingi milioni tatu hadi milioni nne.
 
 Waziri wa Fedha, Dk. William Mgimwa amesema, uamuzi huo wa Serikali utawawezesha wafanyabiasha wadogo wakiwemo waendesha ‘bodaboda’ kujiendeleza kibiashara.
 
Amewaeleza wabunge mjini Dodoma kuwa, Serikali pia imekubali ushauri wao wa kuongeza kodi ya mafuta ya kula kwa mafuta yanayoagizwa kutoka nje ili kulinda viwanda vya ndani.
 
Kwa mujibu wa Waziri Mgimwa, uamuzi huo wa Serikali sasa utawasilishwa kwenye Baraza la Mawaziri na nchi wanachama wa Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki (EAC).
 
“Lakini Serikali imekubali mapendekezo ya waheshimiwa wabunge” amesema. Kwa mujibu wa Waziri Mgimwa, Serikali kuondoa Kodi ya Ongezeko la Thamani (VAT) kwa viwanda vinavyozalisha nguo kwa kutumia pamba inayolimwa nchini.
 
“Tumeikubali hiyo hoja, tunaifanyia kazi” amelieleza Bunge na kubainisha kwamba, uamuzi huo utasaidia kuongeza ajira nchini na mapato ya wananchi.
 
Amesema, Serikali inafanya uchambuzi wa suala hilo ili kuona ni wapi itafidia , na kwamba, itatoa ufafanuzi wa jambo hilo katika Muswada wa Fedha wakati wa Mkutano unaoendelea wa Bunge mjini Dodoma.
 
Wakati huo huo, Waziri wa Nchi, Ofisi ya Rais (Mahusiano na Uratibu), Stephen Wasira amewataka wanunuzi wa pamba kutowatwisha mzigo wa kila kitu wakulima wa pamba wakati bei inaposhuka katika soko.
Amesisitiza kwamba, suala la kufufua viwanda ni la msingi na Serikali itahakikisha viwanda vya nguo vinapewa kipaumbele na kuhakikisha malighafi zinazopatikana, zinatumika hapa nchini.

Wasira ameyasema hayo wakati akifanya majumuisho ya hotuba yake ya Hali ya Uchumi wa Taifa kwa mwaka 2011/12 pamoja na Mpango wa Maendeleo ya Taifa kwa mwaka wa fedha 2012/2013.

“Nisingeweza kumaliza hotuba yake bila kuzungumzia pamba, wakulima wa pamba wasingenielewa, wao ndio wanaoniweka mjini,” alisema. “Wanunuzi wa pamba wasiwatwishe wakulima mzigo wa kila kitu wakati bei inaposhuka.

Ingekuwa busara kama wanapata faida ya asilimia kumi, basi wachukue asilimia 9 au 8 na inayobaki iende kwa mkulima.

Katika michango yao, wabunge waliitaka Serikali kuhakikisha bei ya pamba inaongezeka kutoka ya sasa ya kilo kwa Sh 520 kufikia Sh 1,000.

Akizungumzia hoja za wabunge kuhusu kufufua viwanda na kuviendeleza vilivyopo, Wasira alisema hicho ni moja ya kipaumbele cha Bajeti ya 2012/13, hivyo Serikali itahakikisha inavilinda viwanda vya nchini.

“Msimamo wa Serikali uko wazi, viwanda ni mojawapo ya vipaumbele vilivyoainishwa katika bajeti hii. Kwa hiyo, tutahakikisha viwanda vyetu vinafufuliwa na vinavyofanya kazi vinaendelezwa,” alisema Wasira.

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Posted by on June 24, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

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Tanzania: Thamani Ya Bidhaa za Kilimo Yaongezeka

Naibu Waziri wa Viwanda na Biashara, Gregory Teu amesema, thamani hiyo imeongezeka kutoka Sh bilioni 410 mwaka 2007 hadi Sh trilioni 1.07 mwaka 2011.
 
“Kwa mujibu wa taarifa toka Ofisi ya Taifa ya Takwimu na Mamlaka ya Mapato kwa kipindi cha mwaka 2007/2011, bidhaa za kilimo zilizouzwa nje ni pamoja na kahawa, pamba, katani, chai, tumbaku, korosho na karafuu,” amewaeleza wabunge mjini Dodoma.
 
Alikiri kuwa thamani ya Shilingi itapanda endapo uuzaji wa bidhaa nje utaongezeka, na hii itategemea kuongeza uzalishaji wa bidhaa na huduma kwa kiasi kikubwa kukidhi soko la ndani na baadaye ziada kuuzwa nje.
 
Alisema Serikali imekuwa ikitekeleza mikakati mbalimbali ya kuwawezesha wawekezaji wa ndani na nje kuuza bidhaa zao nje kupitia Mamlaka ya Maeneo Maalumu ya Uwekezaji (EPZA) kwa kutenga na kuendelea kuwatengea wawekezaji maeneo ya uzalishaji katika mikoa yote nchini.
 
“Aidha, tangu kuanzishwa kwa Mpango wa EPZ mwaka 2002 hadi hivi sasa (2012), makampuni 40 kati ya makampuni 54 ya ndani na nje ya nchi yamekuwa yakizalisha kwa utaratibu uliowekwa na Mamlaka ya EPZA,” alisema.
 
Aliitaja mikakati mingine kuwa ni pamoja na maonesho ya Sabasaba, Nanenane na maonesho ya kikanda yanayosimamiwa na kuratibiwa na Shirika la Kuhudumia Viwanda Vidogo (SIDO) ambayo hufanyika kila mwaka.
 
Naibu Waziri alisema, lengo la maonesho hayo ni kuwapa fursa wafanyabiashara kutangaza na kupata masoko ya kuuza bidhaa zao ndani na nje ya nchi.
 
Wakati huohuo, Rwanda na China zimetajwa kuwa nchi zitakazoshiriki kwa kiwango kikubwa katika maonesho ya biashara ya Sabasaba yanayotarajiwa kuanza kwenye Viwanja vya Mwalimu Nyerere.

Kaimu Mkurugenzi wa Mamlaka ya Maendeleo na Biashara Tanzania (TanTrade), Samwel Mvingira ameyasema hayo wakati akizungumzia ubia kati ya taasisi yake na Kampuni ya simu ya Vodacom katika mawasiliano.
 
Mvingira alisema nchi hizo zimejitokeza zaidi katika ushiriki ikilinganishwa na nchi nyingine za kigeni.
 
Alisema wafanyabiashara kutoka Rwanda wamechukua meta za mraba 400 zinazoweza kutumika kwa watu zaidi ya 45 wakati China imechukua takribani meta za mraba 1,000.
 
“ Imekuwa tofauti na maonesho ya mwaka jana, kwa Rwanda inaonesha wamehamasishwa sana kuja kuonesha na kufanya biashara na kwa upande wa China wamekuja kushiriki na wataendesha pia maonesho yao ndani wakati haya yetu yakiwa yanaendelea,” alisema na kuongeza kuwa maonesho ya China yataanza Julai 1 hadi 5.
 
Mvingira alisema, nchi 11 zimejitokeza kushiriki maonesho hayo huku kampuni za ndani zikiwa 1,500, za nje 435 na taasisi za serikali zipatazo 64.
 
Mkuu wa Kitengo cha Mawasiliano wa Vodacom, Joselin Kamuhanda alisema kampuni yake inatarajia kutumia zaidi ya Sh milioni 50 kwa ajili ya kuendesha matangazo ya maonesho kwa siku 10.

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Posted by on June 24, 2012 in Tanzania News

 

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China’s Billionaire People’s Congress Makes Capitol Hill Look Like Pauper‏

 
The richest 70 members of China’s legislature added more to their wealth last year than the combined net worth of all 535 members of the U.S.

Congress, the president and his Cabinet, and the nine Supreme Court justices.

The net worth of the 70 richest delegates in China’s National People’s Congress, which opens its annual session on March 5, rose to 565.8 billion yuan ($89.8 billion) in 2011, a gain of $11.5 billion from 2010, according to figures from the Hurun Report, which tracks the country’s wealthy.

That compares to the $7.5 billion net worth of all 660 top officials in the three branches of the U.S. government.

Attendees of the National People’s Congress listen to Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister, speak during the opening at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on Saturday, March 5, 2011. Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg

Zong Qinghou, chairman of beverage-maker Hangzhou Wahaha Group and China’s second-richest person, with a family fortune of 68 billion yuan, is a member of China’s National People’s Congress. Photographer: Nelson Ching/Bloomberg

Auto-parts magnate, Wanxiang Qianchao Co. Ltd. chairman Lu Guanqiu, the third-richest person in China’s National People’s Congress, traveled with Vice President Xi Jinping to the U.S. during his official visit this month, attending a meeting with Vice President Joseph Biden and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner in Washington. Photographer: Lucas Schifres/Bloomberg

The income gain by NPC members reflects the imbalances in economic growth in China, where per capita annual income in 2010 was $2,425, less than in Belarus and a fraction of the $37,527 in the U.S.

The disparity points to the challenges that China’s new generation of leaders, to be named this year, faces in countering a rise in social unrest fueled by illegal land grabs and corruption.

“It is extraordinary to see this degree of a marriage of wealth and politics,” said Kenneth Lieberthal, director of the John L. Thornton China Center at Washington’s Brookings Institution. “It certainly lends vivid texture to the widespread complaints in China about an extreme inequality of wealth in the country now.”

The National People’s Congress, whose annual meeting will run for a week and a half, is legally the highest governmental body in China. While the legislature, with about 3,000 members, is often derided as a rubberstamp parliament, its members are some of China’s most powerful politicians and executives, wielding power in their home provinces and weighing in on proposals such as whether to impose a nationwide property tax.

“The NPC is not exactly what you would call a center of power, but being on it certainly gets you deeply engaged in the political system,” Lieberthal said.

Hurun, a Shanghai-based publisher of magazines targeted at the Chinese luxury consumer, uses publicly available information such as corporate filings to compile its annual list of the richest people in China. It then cross-checks that data with the government’s list of NPC members.

Zong Qinghou, chairman of beverage-maker Hangzhou Wahaha Group (HWGZ) and China’s second-richest person, with a family fortune of 68 billion yuan, is a member. So is Wu Yajun, chairwoman of Beijing-based Longfor Properties (LHREZ) Co. She has family wealth of 42 billion yuan, according to the Hurun Report.

Former President Jiang Zemin pushed for the inclusion of wealthy private entrepreneurs into the Communist Party a decade ago. Now they have regular access to top party leaders who are also NPC members.

The third-richest person in the NPC, auto-parts magnate Lu Guanqiu, traveled with Vice President Xi Jinping to the U.S. during his official visit this month, attending a meeting with Vice President Joseph Biden and Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner in Washington on Feb. 14.

“The rich in China have strong incentive to become ‘within system’ due to the relative weakness in the rule of law and of property rights,” Victor Shih, a professor at Evanston, Illinois-based Northwestern University who studies Chinese politics and finance, wrote in an e-mail. Being a member of the NPC “means that one’s commercial or political rival cannot easily throw one in jail or confiscate one’s property.”

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Posted by on June 24, 2012 in International News

 

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Eurozone four leaders agree economic growth package

Leaders of the eurozone’s four biggest nations have agreed in principle to measures to boost growth equal to 1% of the currency area’s economic output.
 
Germany, France, Italy and Spain outlined plans to push for a 130bn-euros (£104bn; $163bn) package.
 
But analysts suggest that with little or no new money involved, the significance of the agreement between the four was more symbolic than actual.

There is also still no consensus on issues such as common eurobonds.
 
“We want there to be a significant European growth package,” said Italian PM Mario Monti.
 
He appeared at the press conference alongside Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.
 
The four met in Rome ahead of an EU summit on the euro crisis next week.
 
The growth package is expected to comprise several measures already in the works to boost spending on infrastructure and other investments, backed by European taxpayer money:
 
Increasing the capital of the European Investment Bank by 10bn euros, which would enable the EU government-backed institution to increase its lending capacity by several times that amount;
 
Fully deploying unused money in the European Commission’s regional funds;
 
The creation of pan-European “project bonds” – common debts used to finance specific investment projects such as the construction of pan-european transport networks.
The agreement may represent a political victory for the recently elected French president, who has demanded a growth pact despite strong reservations expressed by his Germany counterpart.
 
The leaders also sought to agree other proposals on closer integration – including a banking union and a financial transactions tax – to be put forward at the broader EU summit.
 
However, at the end of less than two hours of talks, they did not reach any agreement on the idea of eurobonds – jointly-backed eurozone government debts used to finance EU government budgets.

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Facebook and Yahoo! bury the hatchet and settle‏

Facebook and Yahoo! are in patent war truce talks that could end a legal battle between the companies, according to court documents available online.

“The parties are currently engaged in settlement negotiations to resolve this dispute,” attorney Kevin Smith of the Yahoo! legal team said in a filing asking a federal court to allow the companies more time to negotiate.

“The parties believe that a further extension will facilitate settlement.”

In March, Yahoo! filed suit against Facebook in US District Court in San Francisco, accusing the social networking giant of infringing on 10 patents.

The Yahoo! suit accused Facebook of infringing on patents in areas including advertising, privacy and messaging and contended that Facebook’s growth “has been based in large part on Facebook’s use of Yahoo!’s patented technology.”

Yahoo! asked the court to order Facebook to halt its alleged patent-infringing activities and to assess unspecified damages.

Facebook, which is based in the northern California city of Menlo Park, denied violating any valid Yahoo! patents.

Facebook went on to accuse Yahoo! of infringing on its patented technology in a broad array of products including online venues for news, games, cars, travel and photo-sharing service Flickr.

The fight between Yahoo! and Facebook heated up in April with the floundering Internet pioneer accusing the social network star of buying patents just to retaliate in court.

Yahoo! also added a few more patents to the list of intellectual property it claims Facebook is abusing.

“We remain perplexed by Yahoo’s erratic actions,” a Facebook spokesman said at the time.

“We disagree with these latest claims and we will continue to defend ourselves vigorously.”

Patent suits are a frequent occurrence among smartphone and tablet computer makers, and the world’s best known brands are ensnared in a complex web of legal claims, but such suits are relatively rare among social media companies.

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Posted by on June 24, 2012 in International News

 

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