Kenya to woo investors at global trade meetings

 

 

Amina Mohamed with Japanese official discussing matters of mutual interest and hosting of TICAD

Kenya will use two up-coming international conferences to match local small business enterprises with potential investors.

Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed also allayed fears that the current political temperatures would interfere with the hosting of the conferences in July and August.

Speaking about the 14th United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCtad) and the 6th Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (Ticad), the CS said thousands of delegates were expected in Nairobi.

“In both events, we are expecting over 10,000 combined delegates to converge in Nairobi,” Ms Amina told the Press in Nairobi.

PLATFORM FOR NETWORKING

She added: “I do not see the current political situation interfering much. Kenyans have always risen to the occasion and above such matters when it comes to international forums such as this.”

UNCtad is a United Nations agency that deals with trade, investment and development matters for more than 170 members.

It als serves as an important political function that allows intergovernmental consensus regarding the state of the world economy.

“Under the World Investment Forum, the conference will provide a platform for engagement and effective networking for investors and members of the business community. We will use the opportunity to match Kenya’s small medium enterprises with potential investors,” said Mohamed.

The UNCtad meeting will run from July 17 to 22 while the Ticad will take place from August 27 to 29 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).

sustainable development

“Among other issues, we will be discussing commodities and the regional and global value chain,” she the minister, whose docket includes global trade.

This will be the first time an UNCtad meeting is held in Africa.

The conference will focus on kick-starting actions to implement the ‘Agenda for Sustainable Development’ and shaping the ‘World We Want’ in a spirit of global solidarity.

The CS said the Government preparations for the conferences began in December 2015 under a multi-stakeholder national preparatory committee comprising of Government officials, private sector, youth and civil society.

“The Government is working with other key co-organisers; the Government of Japan, the UN, UNDP, World Bank and the African Union Commission, along with other partners,” said the CS.

Japan Embassy official Mikio Mori said Kenya hosts the largest Japanese investments in Africa.

“One of the concepts for Ticad is for Africa to come up with ideas on how they want to develop. The conference will be co-hosted by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,” said Mori.

The two conferences come hot on the heels of another major World Trade Organisation conference that Kenya successfully hosted last year.