Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki Monday called on investors to take advantage of the existing investment opportunities to invest in the coun t ry.
He reminded potential investors that Kenya was the gateway to East Africa, the C entral African region, and asked them to exploit the available opportunities.
President Kibaki said his government had taken a wide range of measures intended to make Kenya an investment destination of choice.
“These measures include strengthening public service delivery through performanc e contracting and results-based management in our ministries and departments,” P r esident Kibaki said.
He was speaking here when he officially opened the Kenya International Investmen t Conference at Laico Regency Hotel, Nairobi.
The meeting brought together over 100 international investors, including the Dir ector of Euromoney Conferences, Christopher Garnett.
Kibaki pointed out that under the e-government initiative, government services w ere increasingly being offered on-line, including services such as filing of tax
returns and application for passports.
“As part of improvements in the business environment, Kenya has replaced its pap er-based customs administration with an electronic data system, which enables tr a ders to electronically submit their customs declarations and pay customs duty on – line,” President Kibaki said.
Kibaki said his government, together with the government of Uganda, had unveiled a plan to build a standard gauge rail line from the Port of Mombasa to Uganda, R wanda and Burundi.
The railway line will eventually establish a rail network inter-linking Kenya wi th the Great Lakes region, Southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He said the government had also advanced plans for a second port in Lamu and a r oad and rail network linking the port through northern Kenya to Ethiopia and Sud a n.
Besides the wide range of investment opportunities available, President Kibaki s aid investors in Kenya benefitted immensely from the country’s well-trained and s killed human resource-base.
“We have a large pool of well-educated and English speaking population, a compet itive wage structure and high labour productivity,” Kibaki said.
Kibaki said his government had implemented most of the key international codes a nd standards, adding that the government had initiated further measures to stren g then the codes and standards in the light of the global financial crisis.
He added that the government was implementing a comprehensive Private Sector Dev elopment Strategy with the aim of creating an enabling and competitive environme n t for businesses to grow and thrive.
“Indeed, as a result of the reforms we have implemented, the World Bank recogniz ed Kenya as being among the top 10 reformers in its 2006/07 Doing Business Repor t . In June 2007, Kenya won the United Nations ‘Public service Award’ in the categ o ry ‘Improving Transparency, Accountability and Responsiveness in the Public Serv i ce.”
Noting that political stability was one of the key considerations of investors, President Kibaki said his government had made a strong commitment to implement f a r-reaching reforms to ensure that Kenya remained a peaceful and stable democracy .
Kibaki said the reforms, included constitutional review, legal and institutional reforms and strengthening transparency, accountability and the rule of law whic h are key pillars under the VISION 2030.
“Indeed, our resolve to entrench democracy has been demonstrated through our com mitment to the principles and ideals of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism. Kenya w as among the first four African States to accede to the APRM process in 2003 and
also the third country to complete the peer review process,” President Kibaki sa i d.
Besides political stability, he said the government was fully aware that poor in frastructure remained a major constraint for investors and planned to spend 360 b illion Kenya Shillings in various infrastructure projects over the next five yea r s which amounts to an average of 72 billion Kenya Shillings annually.
He said investing substantial resources to upgrade the road network would make i t easier and cheaper to produce goods and distribute them within the country.
The President said the government was also investing heavily in connectivity to the leading business centres of the world in Europe, North America and Asia by a t tracting more international airlines to Kenya.
“Our competitiveness and links to the world’s top financial centres will also be enhanced by under-sea and fibre-optic cable lines that are now being installed.
This will give us faster and cheaper internet connectivity with the rest of the w orld,” President Kibaki said.
The President said following the introduction of free universal primary educatio n in 2003 and tuition free secondary education in 2008, revamped youth polytechn i cs and vocational training as well as expanded university opportunities, the cou n try would have more competitive labour force.
He said Kenya also provided investors an opportunity to access the East African Community market with a combined population of 125 million people and a GDP of U S $ 61 billion.
“The East African Community, comprising Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Buru ndi, introduced a common external tariff in January 2005, and members have agree d to eliminate all internal tariffs between them by 2010,” Kibaki said.
In addition to the East African Community, the President said Kenya is also a me mber of the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) which brings t o gether 20 African states of the Northern, Eastern and Southern Africa.
He said COMESA also provides Kenyan exporters with a huge and diverse market for over 406 million people and a combined GDP of US$ 342 billion adjusted to Purch a sing Power Parity.
Noting that there are challenges of cross-border trade in such areas as Infrastr ucture, non-tariff barriers, and bureaucratic delays at international borders, P r esident Kibaki said the Government of Kenya and its regional partners were givin g urgent attention to resolving these problems.
With regard to international markets for Kenya-produced goods, said Kenya remai ns committed to a W.T.O.-compliant regional trade agreement between the East Afr i can Community and the European Union.
The European Union is the largest destination of Kenyan exports after the East A frican Community and COMESA.
“Under the Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union expected to b e concluded in July 2009, the European Union has offered the EAC partner states d uty free quota access for all products except rice and sugar which are also to b e liberalized gradually,” President Kibaki said.
