Mr Chairman, Hon Chief Minister Shamsi Vuai Nahoda Hon Ministers of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar Dear Colleagues in the international donor community, ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends, Salaam Aleikum! It is a great pleasure for me and my delegation to have the opportunity to touch base with this important Round Table Conference regarding Zanzibar's development. It is of course pure coincidence that my visit to Tanzania happens to take place at the same time as this conference is being organised. This is not the time to go through the history of Zanzibar and of the Union of Tanzania. But it is well known that the relationship between the Mainland and Zanzibar has sometimes been problematic and also that internal political tension in Zanzibar for a long time stalled the development efforts on the Islands. What I would like to do at this point is simply to commend the innovative and courageous process which led to the signing of the CCM/CUF Agreement, the "Mwafaka", in October 2001. It was a crucial step and all of us warmly welcome the strong commitment to the "Mwafaka" on both sides at the highest political levels, as well as the serious efforts which are underway to implement the Agreement. Tanzania is well known in Africa and in the world for its peace and stability; and through the "Mwafaka" you have set another inspiring example of how conflicts can be dealt with in a constrructive and positive way. We need these positive examples in Africa, where progress and development is still being hampered by too many wars and conflicts.I wish to underline one other fundamental thing in this context. In the long run peace and stability must be underpinned by dynamic economic and social development. Peace and development are interlinked in this way. This is also where your Round Table Conference comes in. I understand that the Zanzibar Government under President Karume's leadership has made impressive headway in preparing the ground for more dynamic development in the future. There are no shortcuts in these preparations: diagnostic work relating to the macro-economic situation and other fundamentals is of crucial importance for successful development inputs and for restoring confidence in the international donor community. Let me express our particular thanks to the UNDP and the UN system, as well as to the World Bank and the IMF, for having worked so closely and constructively with the Zanzibar Government in setting this diagnostic work in motion. We all stand to reap the positive benefits out of that in due course. Sweden is an old friend and close cooperating partner to Tanzania and to Zanzibar. We welcomed the Union and have always seen it as a strong asset for Tanzania. We are keen to see to it that our bilateral assistance is reaching both Zanzibar and the Mainland. We suffered together with many others in the late 1990s when conditions were not conducive for development cooperation in the Isles. When these conditions changed after the last election we have tried to be in the forefront in working for a resumption of normal development assistance. We are encouraged by President Karume's consistant efforts in pushing the development agenda forward. Our own approach in this regard is guided by a strong interest in both helping to fight poverty and to assist in galvanizing peace and security. Mr Chairman, Dear Friends, Sweden's main input in Zanzibar is in the field of education. Last year we made a contribution of US 500 000 to assist in finalizing some 135 newly constructed classrooms at primary schools in Unguja and Pemba built by the communities themselves with our assistance being used to supply roofing, window frames, doors and other essential equipment. The implementation of this program has been very successful and I wish to convey our warm congratulations to the Ministry of Education and Culture for a job very well done. We are quite proud of the Swedish involvement: it has proven, once again, that people and communities arte very quick and eager to respond in a concrete and positive manner when they are given the chance, the means and the opportunity to engage in development work. As a result of this positive experience I am pleased to announce on this occasion that the Swedish Embassy in Oar es Salaam is now assessing the possibility of a new decision, committing USO 1 million or approximately TSH 100 million, for continued assistance during 2003 and 2004 for classroom construction, as well as additional support for continued planning for a broader and more long-term education sector support. This planning is being carried out in cooperation with other development partners and it is our hope that as many other donors as possible will be able to join in. On this concrete and positive note I wish you a good conclusion of your conference later on today. As for myself I cannot stay to the end because we are sheduled to proceed to Pemba for important contacts relating to the forthcoming by-elections on 18 May. It is of course very important, also for the follow up of this conference, that these by-elections will be carried out in a fair and orderly way - another manifestation of the interlinkage between peace and development.A santeni sana!