Kenya eyes investment deals in Britain

President Kibaki of Kenya.

July 25 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki left the country on Wednesday evening to Britain for an official visit during which he expects to boost trade ties between the
two countries.

A statement from president Kibaki's office said while in London, the Kenyan leader will address the Kenya Investment Conference where he will outline the steps the coalition
government has taken to boost the business and investment environment in Kenya."The summit is hosted by Alderman David Wooton, the Rt. Hon. Lord Mayor of the city of
London," the statement said.The visit comes as the East African nation is seeking to attract at least 2.14 billion U.S. dollars in foreign and local investments for the 2012/2013
financial year.

Acting Managing Director of Kenya Investment Authority (KIA) Julius Korir said early in July that Kenya attracted close to 1.78 billion dollars in foreign and domestic
investments in the last financial year which ended in June. "For the 2012/ 2013 financial year, we have set a target of total domestic and foreign investments of at least 2.14
billion dollars in order to make Kenya, a regional economic hub for Africa, " he said on July 9. "If the government achieves the target, it hopes to create employment
opportunities to at least 30,000 jobs both in labor intensive and capital intensive projects," he said.

Korir said the government hopes to attract investment of at least 595 million dollars during the 30th Olympic Games in London which runs from July 27 to Aug.12."We are
banking on our athletes to highlight Kenya as an investment destination especially in sports, tourism, real estate, natural resources and technology," he said.KIA has prepared
12 projects that will be showcased during the games to potential investors."There are four in the railway sector, three that are Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) related, while another involves construction of three conference facilities projects, one each involving the national museum as well as a new sport stadium," he said.
"Most of the investments will be targeted in the six key sectors identified under the country's economic blue print Vision 2030," the KIA official said.

While in London, Kibaki is also expected to address the Kenya Diaspora Conference, co-hosted by the Kenya government and the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Group that
seeks to galvanize the Kenya Diaspora to be part of the country's development agenda. "President Kibaki will also join other Heads of State and Government for the official
opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games on Friday. Before the opening ceremony, President Kibaki will attend a reception hosted by Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II," the statement said.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga said in June that he and Kibaki will travel to London to support the nation's team at the forthcoming Olympics. Odinga confirmed the country's top
leadership was confident the team would surpass their best performance recorded in Beijing four years ago.He said Kibaki will attend the opening ceremony and the opening
days of the July 27 to Aug. 12 while Odinga will be at hand for the closing ceremony of the event as well as the final days of action. "Kenyans have never looked back since the
1968 Olympics where Naftali Temu won gold in 10,000m and our athletes have continued to carry the flag with pride," said Odinga on June 26. He also assured the squad the
government was fully behind them as they seek to break the six gold, four silver and four bronze they won in Beijing, China. (Xinhua)