Honourable Chief Minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha
Dear guests,
When I was flying to Pemba five weeks ago I found myself in the same plane as a Swedish investor on his way to his newly opened hotel resort on this remarkably green and beatiful island.
It was a coincidence – but I take the liberty to make it symbolic.
There are Swedes in Zanzibar. There are of course Swedes working with development cooperation which is substantial. But there are also Swedes doing business in Zanzibar.
And there are potentially more Swedes to come, not least enjoying all the richness Unguja and Pemba can offer. Continued improvement of the business climate is of course crucial.
Consequently we have good reasons to open an honorary consulate in Zanzibar. And we have especially good reasons since we have found such a suitable person for the position as Honorary Consul as Ms Bente Said.
Congratulations to you Bente. But congratulations also to us all to have got you into this.
Before doing what I am primarily here to do - inaugurating the consulate - I want to briefly touch upon three issues I find important. Three c:s. Culture, capacity and compromise. All essential for Zanzibar.
Culture first.
There was a programme on Swedish TV this summer – describing Tanzania for potential Swedish visitors – conveying a colourful message about the culture, charm and atmosphere of Zanzibar which in my opinion could and should be a key pull factor for potential tourists to Tanzania. Not only for Swedish tourists but certainly also for them.
Sweden is proud to have been a partner in the process of preserving the World Heritage Site of Stone town. Rehabilitating houses, strengthening the capacity of the authority STCDA and empowering the community through Zanzibar Stone Town Heritage Society. I know that the twinning cooperation between Visby in Sweden and Zanzibar has been meaningful and fruitful. Now the challenge is to sustain results and continue with the efforts. It goes without saying that the cultural heritage of Zanzibar is an invaluable asset that hardly can be overestimated.
Secondly capacity, especially the capacity of the children of Zanzibar. Five weeks ago I was sitting in a village in Pemba listening to and talking with a Children’s council. Boys and girls between 8 and 15 years old. Newly elected by their friends to promote the rights of children and adolescents in their society. All this initiated in a project supported by Save the Children and Swedish Sida.
One impression was stronger than all others. These girls and boys as a fantastic resource for the future development of their villages, districts – for this country. They had a lot of challenges to face but they were no passive victims. They were developing into active actors. Taking initiatives, starting to form their own opinions, starting to claim their rights.
Zanzibar has fantastic assets in its natural environment. But the most important capacity is the people itself and among them the children – and among them not least the children fighting for the rights of all children. Support them, encourage them, build on their capacity for the future!
Thirdly the compromise Zanzibar is still waiting for. As friends and partners we are concerned that the stalemate in the Mwafaka-process is still there more than six months after it occurred.
I am convinced that a compromise in Mwafaka is essential for democracy, stability and peaceful elections 2010. I am also convinced that an agreement ought to be possible, not least since both sides after all have agreed to the idea of power sharing.
But I am equally convinced that you will never get an agreement merely by continuing to state that the other side should understand that they are wrong and ought to change its position. There is certainly both need and room for new creativity and new initiatives to save Mwafaka.
Finally a few words about this consulate.
The main task of the Swedish foreign service is to act as an instrument of Sweden's foreign policy. It must represent and safeguard Swedish interests abroad in various areas, disseminate information about Sweden and matters relating to Sweden and provide a service for Swedish citizens in legal, consular and commercial matters.
This last task - service for Swedish citizens - will be the most important one for our new Honorary Consul in Zanzibar. A task that we feel Bente Said is fully competent to perform.
I wish you good luck in your new profession and assure you that both I and my team at the Embassy in Dar es Salaam will give you all possible support and encouragement you need!
We are approaching an exciting year when Sweden will be holding the European Union Presidency – first only locally on behalf of the Czech republic but during the second half of 2009 a full EU Presidency. I look forward both to that and to continued regular visits to the fantastic islands of Zanzibar.