NAIROBI, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday announced a raft of incentives aimed at wooing Tanzanian investors to the country.
Kenyatta who also announced decisions to lift work permit and business visa requirements for Tanzanian investors said the prosperity of the two countries hinges on creating a conducive business environment, boosting economic cooperation and growing mutually beneficial trade and investment.
"We would like to see many investors from Tanzania coming to do business in Kenya," he said in Nairobi during the Kenya-Tanzania Business Forum also addressed by visiting Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
In a statement issued after the forum, Kenyatta said his administration will do all in its power to eliminate all non-tariff barriers for Tanzanian investors coming to do business in Kenya.
He gave concerned state agencies two weeks to clear truck congestions at Namanga and Holili border crossings to allow free flow of trade.
Traffic jams involving trucks along the common border have remained the norm since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020 with the two countries differing on the management of the pandemic.
Kenyatta also tasked the ministers of health from both countries to move with speed and streamline COVID-19 containment protocols required for traders to cross the borders unhindered.
He challenged the private sector to explore and seize opportunities accorded by bilateral and multilateral agreements available to East African nations such as the African Continental Free Trade Area and the East African Community (EAC)-European Union (EU) Economic Partnership Agreement to grow their investments.
Kenyatta said the EAC, through the EAC Customs Union and EAC Common Market Protocol, has opened borders and unlocked opportunities for the free movement of goods, services, and investments across the EAC borders.
This, Kenyatta said, has paved the way for trade to thrive, new opportunities to emerge and trade to increase.
Speaking at the forum, President Hassan outlined reforms being undertaken by her administration to enhance ease of doing business, and welcomed Kenyan private sector to invest in Tanzania.
"The private sector is key to driving growth, that will deliver these jobs, transform the labor market, open up opportunities and unleash entrepreneurial spirit," Hassan said.
She called on Kenyan and Tanzanian investors to establish partnerships, saying there is an opportunity for Tanzania to leverage on Kenya's technology. Enditem
