Kenya plans to woo global manufacturers

Kenya plans to woo global manufacturers to set up base in the country so as to expand the country's industrial sector, officials said on Thursday.

Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Trade Adan Mohamed told an investor forum in Nairobi that a number of global manufacturers especially in Asia are planning to move their factories overseas due to rising production costs.

"We want some of them to consider setting up base in Kenya so that they can provide employment opportunities in the country," Mohamed said.

"We are putting in place a raft of incentives to make Kenya an attractive manufacturing hub," he said during a meeting with a trade delegation composed of investors from China, U.S, Australia, Netherlands and Bangladesh.

Mohamed said in the past few years a lot of global firms have set up operations in Kenya due to the favorable business climate. "We want to leverage on the goodwill to attract more firms into Kenya," he noted.

Mohamed said there are other nations especially in Africa that have lower labor cost compared to Kenya.

"However, Kenya offers an all round package including highly skilled labor force and market access to key markets in the developed world," he said.

The CS added that in order to make Kenya an attractive investment destination, production costs will need to reduce.

"So we are going to set an industrial park in the geothermal rich area where electricity costs are more competitive," he said. Endit