Tanzania opened an honorary consulate in Russia's St. Petersburg on Wednesday at a ceremony held by Tanzanian Ambassador Fredrick Kibuta ahead of the second Russia-Africa summit.
"I am delighted to be with you here this evening, and to welcome all of you to the inaugural function of the first Tanzanian Honorary Consul office in St. Petersburg," Kibuta said at the opening ceremony, adding "the future of our bilateral relations is brighter and but it also tells that there are more to be done to benefit more out of our mutual initiatives."
The ambassador noted that the consulate will cover two Russian regions, namely the city of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, however any entrepreneur from northwestern Russia will be able to receive information about investment opportunities in Tanzania.
"Today, the constructive, trusting, mutually beneficial partnership between Russia and Tanzania is especially significant and relevant. Our countries are brought together by a common desire to form a system of relations based on the priority of international law and consideration of national interests," he said.
Russia, then the Soviet Union, and Tanzania, then-Tanganyika, established diplomatic relations in 1961. Russia has an embassy in Dar es Salaam, and Tanzania has an embassy in Moscow.