Kenya Delegation Woos Investment on World Economic Forum

Kenyan delegation led by Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Thursday wooed foreign investment into Kenya at the World Economic Forum on Africa held in Cape Town, South Africa.

Odinga told reporters in a press conference We come and announce here that Kenya is up and running once again. Kenya is ready to do business. He said what Kenyans went through in the last few months made the people in the country more united than before.

In Kenya's post-election violence late last year, over 1,000 people were killed and about 300, 000 fled their homes. The country's economy was greatly affected. After the formation of a new government, Kenya is returning to the normal way gradually.

Kenya is now a nation for investment and tourism, said Odinga.

The new government wanted to attract private capital to team up with public capital to build up the country, he said.

Infrastructure, tourism and IT are all the key fields that the country wanted to develop.

Kenyan Minister for Tourism Najib Balala describes a huge blueprint for the development of tourism. He said Kenya is seeking to explore in new areas and develop new travel product. The tourism would not only rely on wildlife and beaches but also on resorts and some high quality of products.

He said the government is planning on opening up coastal area and some new areas such as Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana in the rift valley province which is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake.

Kenya has about 60 more national parks but only several are being used. Balala said more parks would be open up and utilized to attract tourists.

Besides, the government is planning on develop small, unique and expensive travel package for the high ranking customers. Up to last year we came to 1.8 million tourists, and there will be our plan in the next five years to double the number, he said.

As referring to the city development, Minister of Nairobi Metropolitan Development Mutula Kilonzo said the government is planning to develop Nairobi into a metropolitan city.

Under this plan, Nairobi would need to develop infrastructure, expand the airport, implement a huge housing project and eliminate the former bad name as Nairobbery.

Meanwhile, the delegation said the Kenyan government was going to convert Mombasa to a free port similar to Dubai. All these projects mean great potential to development and investement, it said.

Source: CRIEnglish