{"id":57351,"date":"2026-06-02T09:23:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T01:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=57351"},"modified":"2026-06-02T09:23:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T01:23:59","slug":"president-tharman-in-tanzania-june-8-to-10-for-state-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=57351","title":{"rendered":"President Tharman in Tanzania June 8 to 10 for state visit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SINGAPORE \u2013 <!-- -->President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will be in Tanzania from June 8 to 10 for the first-ever state visit by a Singapore head of state to the East African country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">His visit is at the invitation of Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan and marks the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on June 1.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">President Tharman will participate in an official welcome ceremony and meet President Hassan in Dar es Salaam, where he will be hosted at a state banquet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The two heads of state will also speak to the media together and witness the signing and exchange of several agreements.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The pacts expected to be inked during the visit will deepen bilateral cooperation in areas such as carbon credits, capacity building, skills development, and technical and vocational training.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">President Tharman will also visit the University of Dar es Salaam and deliver a speech.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">In addition, a Singapore-Tanzania joint business roundtable, co-organised by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), will be held to enable business leaders from both sides to network and explore opportunities for collaboration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">The visit comes as Singapore steps up ties with Africa \u2013 the world\u2019s second-fastest-growing region. In November 2025, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong visited Ethiopia, where he announced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/politics\/singapore-to-open-embassy-in-addis-ababa-as-ties-with-ethiopia-grow?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"font-body-baseline-regular inline\" data-testid=\"paragraph-test-id\">Singapore would open an embassy in the capital Addis Ababa<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Tanzania is a key node in East Africa, as it is the headquarters for the East African Community, a subregional bloc that covers eight countries. Singapore intends to negotiate a free trade agreement with the grouping.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">President Tharman will also make a stop in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous archipelago within Tanzania. He will meet Zanzibar President Hussein Ali Mwinyi, who will also host him to lunch.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Zanzibar has historically served as a commercial, maritime and cultural hub linking East Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Europe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">President Tharman will visit Darajani Souk at the edge of Stone Town, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since 1904, the market has served as the island\u2019s primary trading hub.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Darajani Souk is a community rejuvenation public-private partnership project that includes Singapore agro-commodities company Nomanbhoy &amp; Sons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">President Tharman will be accompanied by his spouse Jane Ittogi Shanmugaratnam, Minister in the Prime Minister\u2019s Office and Second Minister for Finance and National Development Indranee Rajah, Minister of State for Trade and Industry and National Development Alvin Tan, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Social and Family Development Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Others on the trip include some MPs, as well as officers from various ministries, Enterprise Singapore and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">A business delegation from the SBF will also be part of the visit. It will be led by Mark Lee, vice-chairman of the SBF and a Nominated MP, who is taking over the duties of chairman Teo Siong Seng, who is on leave of absence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Tanzania is the second-largest economy and second-most populous country in East Africa. In 2025, Tanzania was Singapore\u2019s 12th-largest trading partner in Africa. Total bilateral trade in goods amounted to $227.7 million in 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Singapore\u2019s commercial interests in Tanzania have primarily been in transport and logistics, trade, infrastructure and built environment, hospitality, and oil and gas sectors. Singapore companies operating in Tanzania include Pacific International Lines, Wilmar International, Gas Supply and Nomanbhoy &amp; Sons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Before his stop in Tanzania, President Tharman will make a working visit to the Republic of South Africa from June 2 to 8. He will have meetings with South African leaders in Cape Town and Johannesburg, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, Deputy President Paul Mashatile and Speaker of Parliament Thoko Didiza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-body-baseline-regular text-primary\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">He will also chair a meeting of the World Bank Group\u2019s High-level Advisory Council on Jobs (HLACJ). In his capacity as chair of the board of the Group of Thirty (G-30), he will participate in a G-30 plenary hosted by the <!-- -->South African Reserve Bank<!-- --> and a joint HLACJ-G-30 seminar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/president-tharman-in-tanzania-from-june-8-to-10-for-state-visit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SINGAPORE \u2013 President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will be in Tanzania from June 8 to 10 for the first-ever state visit by a Singapore head of state&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/57352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}