United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest) held discussions about how East African countries will form a sustainable partnership to create a good, attractive environment for investors.
UNCTAD is holding its 14th session in Kenya, and it’s the second time the UN meeting is being hosted by Kenya. Trade opportunities have been seized by many investors and delegates as new targets and sights are set when it comes to the global financial scale at the moment.
While addressing the press, Pius Rotich, the General Manager of Investment Promotion and Business Development Services said that the program will boost trade and investment with and within East Africa, and will attract investors from other countries to partner with Kenya.
“Structures have already been laid to ensure that both large scale and small scale traders are given good documentation in order to work freely within East Africa. This will boost investment opportunities and benefit local traders,” said Rotich. He added that the main goal was to bring East African countries together, to partner and do business to bolster trade in the region. However, Rotich accepted that there have been challenges in achieving this target. East African nations evidently face an uphill task when it comes to treading the same economical path, especially after Tanzania recently withdrew from signing an economic agreement between East African Community and the European union, something that is still to be resolved. This however hasn’t prevented progress when it comes to setting up structures for future partnership in the region.
The UNCTAD summit attracted at least 7000 delegates from different countries and was graced by President Uhuru Kenyatta, UNCTAD 14 President Ambassador Amina Mohamed and UNCTAD Secretary General Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi among other dignitaries. Ambassador Amina Mohamed expressed her gratitude and praised the delegation for working tirelessly to make UNCTAD 14 conference a success.