Washington, DC — PRESIDENT KIKWETE: You Excellency, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America -- Mr. President, let me once again welcome you and the U.S. First Lady, and your entire delegation to Tanzania.
I thank you, Mr. President, for accepting my invitation to visit Tanzania. The people of Tanzania love you. (Applause.)
You have seen the outpouring of warmth. There has never been a visit by head of state to Tanzania that has attracted such big crowds like the one -- the first one of its kind. Thank you for coming.
Mr. President, Tanzania and the United States enjoy an excellent relationship. We see eye to eye on many regional and global issues. We have been receiving invaluable support in our development endeavors.
The lives of the people of Tanzania are different today thanks in many ways to the support and engaging from the United States of America -- support in health care, support in education. And health care has made many people, many lives to be saved. In education, many young men and women of Tanzania had to get -- education.
Support in food security, nutrition security is increasingly building Tanzania's capacity for self-sufficiency and food supply. And we're already getting there with regards to rice.
Support in infrastructure development, in the road sector, in electricity, in the water sector has made many Tanzanians get these services, which otherwise they would not have been getting them. We applaud programs like the Millennium Challenge compact; PEPFAR, against HIV/AIDS and malaria. And your own brainchild, Feed the Future; Partnership for Growth; New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security -- these have proven to be very useful in supporting the development efforts.
Mr. President, we had very fruitful discussions today. We discussed many issues of mutual interest and mutual concern. Again, I will say, President, thank you for coming. And your words of support during the official talks, and readiness to continue to support Tanzania in our development endeavors goes a long way. It was assuring us in you, and in the United States, we have a true friend indeed.
Mr. President, welcome. (Applause.)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you so much. Thank you. Well, thank you so much, President Kikwete, for your very kind words and for the incredible welcome that I've received here in Dar es Salaam. This is my first visit to Tanzania, but I feel a special connection to this country.
Obviously, my family on my father's side is from East Africa. They spent some time actually in Tanzania. And so, the love Michelle and I and the girls have felt on our arrival, I want to assure you that love is reciprocated and given back in return. So, habari zenu. (Applause.)
Now, President Kikwete was the first African leader I welcomed to the White House after I took office. I was pleased to welcome him to Washington last year for the launch of our New Alliance on Food Security. And as the President indicated, we had excellent discussions today. Our visits and work together reflect the long relationship between our countries and our shared commitment to the development and the dignity of the people of Tanzania.
No comments:
Post a Comment