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Turkish investor secures over 400 acres at Naivasha's industrial park

Business
 Members of the Parliamentary Committee on Trade, Industry and Co-operatives tour the Special Economic Zone in Naivasha which has been paralysed for the last two years due to lack of funding from the national government. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

The Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Naivasha has received a boost after a Turkish investor committed Sh48 billion towards the construction of five industries in the 1,000-acre property.

Turkish Industry Holding has already signed a lease agreement on the 400 acres it has acquired from SEZ with projections that the industries will be fully operational in five years and create thousands of jobs.

The company that will be involved in the production of steel, ceiling boards, tissue paper, aluminium, and ceramics, said the five industries will be constructed in phases.

This comes days after the parliamentary committee on Trade, Industry, and Co-operatives expressed concern over the stalled construction of the envisaged industrial park.

The committee's chairman James Gakuya said the lack of funding from the State for the capital project had affected the investments.

"We have noticed that development by the investors is very slow mainly due to lack of support from the government despite the high potential of job opportunities on this park," he said.

He said the industrial park had the potential of employing over 16,000 youths once complete, and lauded the proposal to offer cheap electricity for the investors.

The committee noted that the business hub, located in Mai Mahiu, required Sh4.5 billion to be fully operational. However, the lack of roads, water, and electricity is eroding investor confidence.

SEZ Authority CEO Kenneth Chelule said five investors had signed leases to start work on the land.

He said the Turkish company was the largest investor to sign a deal with them with the industrial land expected to create up to 2,500 job opportunities.

"The Turkish investor has been allocated 400 acres, and he has started working on it even as we address the issues of access roads and electricity connection," said Chelule who spoke during a tour of the facility.

He said four other investors had received a total of 60 acres as more investors continued to express their interest in the park.

The other investors are Jumbo Holding, which will deal with the assembly of motor vehicles and agricultural machinery, and Jafrom Ltd, which deals with the construction of cold store materials.

Eriksen Ltd, which is involved in the production of textiles and leather and Sino Excellence, which develops warehouses, are the other investors already on the ground.

"Despite budget constraints, we are committed to addressing the issues of access roads, water, and electricity in the next financial year," Chelule said.

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