Kenya urges investors to reap from expanded markets of east Africa

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday called both local and international investors to take advantage of enlarged markets created by regional integration in east Africa. Kenyatta said leaders in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda had made tremendous progress in improvement of rail, road and other infrastructure to facilitate free cross-border movements. "We welcome constructive criticism and ready to complement one another as a country and investors. Let us also raise awareness of the region and Africa as a place to do business and as a sourcing destination," he told visiting delegation of textile and apparel investors in Nairobi. The global clothing textile investors are in the country to explore investment opportunities in the textile industry. Kenyatta who is the chairman of the East Africa Community (EAC) commended investors for expressing interest in the East African region as a whole saying member states have in the last one year removed various bottlenecks to hasten integration. "We as a government want to establish a strong working relationship with investors and provide the right incentives including a friendlier tax regime for a win-win situation," he said. Kenyatta assured investors that the country's constitution was advanced in protection of both human and workers rights. He noted that his government has also simplified the tax regime and introduced one-stop service delivery centers with the ultimate aim of reducing the cost of doing business in the country.