Mombasa Free Trade Zone development kicks off/FILE
Industrialisation and Enterprise Development Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed, says the Consultant will be retained to conduct a detailed feasibility study on the project.
He said the feasibility study will provide a roadmap towards the establishment of a Free Trade Zone as envisaged in the country’s Vision 2030 National Development Plan.
The proposed Mombasa Free Trade Zone, Mohamed said will be benchmarked against some of the World’s best Free Trade Zones including the Dubai Airport Free Zone, China’s Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone (WFTZ) and Malaysia’s Iskandar Free Trade Zone.
“The Ministry of Industrialisation and Enterprise Development is hitting the ground running with a commitment to fulfil such key projects as the Free Trade Zone to facilitate national development,” Mohamed said.
“I am optimistic that this project to establish the country’s first dry free port will be up and running in less than 24 months,” he added.
Besides promoting Foreign Direct Investments, the Mombasa Free Trade Zone is also expected to boost Intra-Africa trade, support economic growth while expanding employment opportunities.
The government, Mohamed assured is already pushing for the speedy enactment of the Special Economic Zones bill currently pending in parliament.
“The government will grant the necessary incentives to roll out the free trade zone and the country to enable us leverage on our prime location in the East African Sea Board,” he said.
The zone is a significant step among other projects that the government intends to put up including a free port in Mombasa’s Dongo Kundu area.
According to the EOI document published last week, the project consultant will also be expected to provide a detailed report.
