President Kenyatta spoke when he addressed a meeting hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the UN Headquarters on Saturday evening. Photo/PSCU.
The conference, which will be hosted by Kenya in 2016, will be used to strengthen the ties between Africa and Japan as well as other global partners who support the efforts to develop and grow the economies of the continent, said the President.
President Kenyatta spoke when he addressed a meeting hosted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the UN Headquarters on Saturday evening.
“It will showcase our own growth initiatives and expose to Japan the available opportunities for cooperation, trade and investment,” said the President.
The President said the aims of the conference tie in with the new age of investment and partnership that Africa has entered into, which is driven by its vast natural resources and markets.
He said Africa is in search for partners who will support its endeavour to transform economies and improve the life of its people.
“Africa has decided to pursue a path of sustainable growth that distributes the benefits to as many of our people as possible,” said the President.
Prime Minister Abe said Japan is ready for partnership with Africa and will bring its dependable technology to support African countries to undertake wide area infrastructure developments.
“We want to utilise our huge and excellent technology to support Africa countries to transform,” said PM Abe.
The Japanese PM said his country will cooperate with Africa in the continent’s efforts to transform the United Nations and also requested support for Japan’s bid to be a non-permanent member of the Security Council.
The TICAD conference is one of the high profiles events Kenya has been chosen to hold in recent time.
In July, Kenya successfully hosted the sixth Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) which was a huge success and has attracted massive investment avenues for Kenya, particularly from the United States.
US energy company, Skypower Global, has also announced it will invest a massive Sh450 billion to develop solar power in Kenya.
The company had first signed a deal to invest Sh240 billion for the same initiative during the GES, which was co-hosted by President Kenyatta and US President Barack Obama.
In December, Kenya will host the 10th World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference. Nairobi will also host the Africa Travel Association 40th Annual World Congress in November.
The world tourism congress will provide a unique opportunity for networking and agenda-shaping for Africa tourism stakeholders.
Kenya shares a special bond with the ATA since it was an early founding member and has hosted the first ATA Congress in Africa. Kenya has maintained its close links with ATA, which is based in the US, by hosting the world congress every ten years.
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