NAIROBI: President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday directed Kenyan government officials to be at the forefront of facilitating trade to give the country a comparative advantage as an investment destination of choice.
The President, who invited Gulf investors to set up shop in Kenya, said the country needed to adapt to what investors wanted and remove the bureaucratic red tape that undermined trade.
We need to be the welcoming party. We are here to listen. We are here to facilitate. President Kenyatta said: “We are here to do what these investors require from us in order to come into our country to bring their investment, to help us create jobs and to help us develop our economy.”
The Head of State spoke at the opening of the Kenya-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states business forum in Dubai on the first day of his working visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Captains of industry and business executives from both Kenya and the Gulf region, among other delegations, attended the high-level business forum held on the margins of Expo 2020 Dubai.
President Kenyatta said that Kenya wants to improve its trade with the United Arab Emirates. He said that a wide range of goods and services that the United Arab Emirates buys from other countries could be made and sold by Kenya.
These include things like hospitality and tourism, banking and finance, ICT and data processing, and so on.
With respect to goods, “we have animals and animal products, gold, cut flowers, fish, pharmaceuticals, tobacco, textiles and apparel, vegetables and fruits that the UAE could procure from Kenya at competitive prices,” President Kenyatta said.
The President said enhancing trade between Kenya and the Gulf countries would help to address the urgent need for jobs and economic opportunities for young people.
He especially urged business leaders from the private and public sectors to develop a special trading framework that would give preference to small and medium enterprises in the East African Community and the GCC.
At the same time, President Kenyatta expressed the need to develop a long-term solution to the many tariff and non-tariff barriers that curtail trade between Kenya and the Gulf region.
As a way to reach this goal, I suggest that we think about starting talks with the Gulf Cooperation Council about a free trade agreement under the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.”
On sports tourism, President Kenyatta said Kenya is ready to make its training grounds and coaches available to nationals from the GCC states.
Allow me to use this opportunity to invite the nationals of the Gulf Cooperation Council states to come and experience our world-famous tourist attractions. We have a long history of trade, culture, and travel relations between the coast of eastern Africa and this region, and we are always ready to welcome you, “he said.
President Kenyatta thanked His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nayan, the President of the UAE, and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, for inviting him to attend Expo 2020 Dubai, one of the largest global events to take place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Expo 2020 Dubai has given the world a new sense of hope and given us a chance to look for new ways to promote trade and investment.”
Kenya is participating in the expo to sell its brand and has come with high expectations of building new business partnerships with the nationals of this country and the close to 20 million visitors that will participate in the expo, President Kenyatta said.
Abdulla Alsaleh, the UAE’s Under Secretary of Economy, told the Kenyan business delegation that the Gulf country is working to remove any barriers to trade between them.
At the high-level event attended by several Cabinet Secretaries, business executives, and agencies from Kenya and the Gulf region, several pacts were concluded, including agreements in services, tourism, goods, logistics, and investments.
President Kenyatta is set to hold talks with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, at the Sea Palace in Abu Dhabi.
President Uhuru Kenyatta arrives at Al Wasl Plaza to grace the Kenya National Day at Expo 2020 Dubai. A total of 192 countries are participating in the 6 months long world exposition whose theme is connecting minds, creating the future.