Tanzania's Kikwete, Clinton meet on bilateral ties
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Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday met on the bilateral relations and cooperations, as well as international and global issues.
Speaking at a joint press conference after the bilateral talks at the State House in Dar es Salaam, Kikwete said that Tanzania values Clinton's visit to the East African nation and the strong relations between the two countries, adding that his country received a lot of valuable support from the U.S. including in the sectors of anti-malaria, anti-narcotics and counter piracy.
The Tanzanian president expressed thanks to the U.S. support and appreciated that Tanzania was chosen one of the four countries in U.S. President Barack Obama's new Partnership for Growth (PFG) initiative, apart from Ghana, El Salvador and the Philippines, adding that it will help to address Africa's challenges.
The initiative seeks to promote broad-based economic growth in developing countries that show a demonstrated commitment to development and democratic governance, according to U.S. official statement.
For her part, Clinton said that the two sides discussed food security and energy issues and the deep friendship between the two countries, as well as international and global affairs including Sudan, Somalia and Zimbabwe, wishing a "peaceful and prosperous future" to Tanzania.
On U.S. assistance to develop Tanzania's agriculture, Kikwete said that the "Feed the Future Initiative", the U.S. Government's global hunger and food security initiative focused on specific countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, will help his country to address food security and malnutrition.
He also told reporters that the U.S. helped Tanzania in the training of the navy, expecting more assistance to help the Tanzanian navy to build big ships in order to tackle the piracy threat in the Tanzanian territorial waters.
On the threat of piracy, Clinton said that the U.S. is working with Tanzania to address the issue, stressing that "more need to be done".
On Sunday, Clinton said that her government is keen to support Tanzania's efforts to end the power crisis through investments to generate 3,000 MW for the national grid by 2015.
She also announced that the U.S. would increase its funding for nutrition to 6.7 million U.S. dollars, while the visiting Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore injected 2 million dollars, the local media reported on Monday.
Apart from visiting the U.S.-supported projects of food security, energy and health on Sunday, Clinton also laid flowers at the memorials of victims of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam bombings on Aug. 7, 1998 at the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam built after the attacks, which killed 224 people, including 12 Americans.
On Saturday, the U.S. authorities confirmed the death of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, al-Qaida's leader in East Africa, who masterminded the 1998 U.S. embassies attacks.
Fazul's death is a significant blow to Al-Qaida, its extremist allies, and its operations in East Africa, Clinton was quoted as saying in a statement posted on the U.S. Department of State website and dated on Saturday. "It is a just end for a terrorist who brought so much death and pain to so many innocents in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, and elsewhere -- Tanzanians, Kenyans, Somalis, others in the region, and our own embassy personnel", she added.
Arriving here on Saturday from Zambia's capital Lusaka, where the 2011 African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum was held on Thursday and Friday under the theme "Enhanced Trade Through Increased Competitiveness, Value addition and Deeper regional Integration", Clinton is on a five-day Africa trip that will also take her to Ethiopia after Tanzania.
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