/ 8 May 2001

DRC PLANS MORE USE OF TANZANIAN PORTS

DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila said on Monday that his country planned to increase use of Tanzanian ports, particularly for imports to eastern DRC. Speaking during a tour of Dar es Salaam port and Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) facilities on the final day of a three-day state visit, Kabila said the increased cargo would depend on the security situation in the vast DRC, where anti-government rebels hold half of the country. “I am very optimistic that peace and stability in the DRC are now finally within reach and I would advise you to prepare yourselves for an increase in traffic from the DRC by as much as six- to tenfold,” he said in a speech to TAZARA management. “The Congo is a potentially very rich country with many resources, and the amount of traffic flow that could be coming your way from the Congo could be very huge,” Kabila said. – AFP