Habari za Asubuhi,

I am immensely happy to be here with you to engage directly with young innovators, change makers and entrepreneurs.

Innovation Week Tanzania 2025 is THE hotspot for start-ups, forward-thinking policymakers, dedicated development partners like ourselves , and visionary private sector players. Together, we can craft the solutions of tomorrow.

The European Union is fully committed to supporting this vibrant gathering. It is a melting pot of creativity and with the clear intention to create a future that is green, inclusive, and digitally connected.

This morning, under the framework of the FUNGUO programme, which the EU is supporting with TZS 15 billion, I am looking forward to witness the exchange on debating innovative opportunities in the forestry value chain—an essential sector for climate resilience.

Forests are fundamental in supporting climate resilience and sustainable development. They play a pivotal role in regulating the ecosystem, but face considerable challenges also in Tanzania, just to mention deforestation and climate change.

In the past decade, the EU has been a strong supporter in the forestry sector, for example providing grants to promote sustainable forest use for biomass energy (TZS 90 billion); or sustainable management of coastal forests and marine resources with more than TZS 33 billion.

Beyond forestry, the EU is committed to supporting Tanzania in its quest to tackle climate change.

With the EU's Green Deal of in 2019, the EU has provided a clear vision how a sustainable, prosperous, and climate-neutral future for both Europe and the world should look like. The European Union is committed to implement this vision.

We have become a strong partner also in Tanzanian in improving Tanzania’s adaptive capacity specifically through community-led adaptation projects (TZS 24 billion); and together with EU member states, we spent another TZS 24 billion for coastal districts. We further provide assistance to the Vice President’s Office and the National Carbon Monitoring Centre (TZS 12 billion).

And most importantly to you, we are providing scholarships for the youth under the TZS 33 billion EUR “Bahari Yetu Project” aimed at conserving coastal and marine ecosystems.

With Finland, joining the FUNGUO programme, focusing on climate resilience in the forestry value-chains, we witness the power of collaboration.

Innovation stands at the forefront of addressing challenges in this sector and unlocking its potential. By jointly promoting new technologies, entrepreneurial approaches, and sustainable models, we can not only progress in our protection goals, but we also create jobs.

I look forward to productive and engaging discussions this morning and to exploring new opportunities and avenues for collaboration in the forestry sector.

I extend my gratitude to the organizers of Innovation Week Tanzania 2025 for once again creating this invaluable platform, addressing the diverse challenges of our future.

Let’s continue to innovate, collaborate and grow together!