Kenya PM to lead delegation for investment conference in Britain

NAIROBI, July 17 (Chinese media) -- Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga will next week lead a high-level delegation to Britain for an investment conference set to discuss ways of revamping Kenya's ailing tourism sector and other trade issues.

A statement issued after a cabinet meeting on Thursday said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had invited both Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga to London but instead the President has mandated his premier to lead the delegation to London.

The Kenyan delegation will present the country' s case as 'open for business' and the region's investment hub and outline opportunities under the recently unveiled Vision 2030 aimed at driving Kenya into the middle economy.

"Kenya is also expected to showcase the opportunities under its flagship growth pillars especially in financial services, ICT, agriculture including horticulture, tourism and infrastructure development," the statement said.

At the height of the violence, tourists especially from Kenya's leading source market Britain kept away from the country after the British government slapped a travel advisory on Kenya following the disputed presidential elections early this year.

The tourism sector, the country's second foreign exchange earner after horticultural sector, lost 80 million U.S. dollars as a result of the violence.

Meanwhile, the cabinet meeting chaired by President Kibaki also approved the proposed development of a 200 million dollar hotel, expo-cum-convention center at the country's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by a private investor.

The statement said the investment will be undertaken by the Doha-based Afro-Asian Investment Corporation on the basis of Build, Operate and Transfer (B.O.T).

The cabinet also approved that the government will seek parliamentary approval for an extra 5 billion shillings required for the completion of the development of a second container terminal at the Port of Mombasa.

The funds are in addition to the 16 billion shilling loan that will be sourced from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

When completed the port expansion will include construction of four berths, an apron, container yard, roads, railway line connection, main buildings, dredging of main basin and procurement of equipment.