Among the benefits include the signing of the investment treaty between Kenya and Japan and the beginning of negotiations of a tax treaty between the two countries which will see Japan’s investment in Kenya increase/CFM BUSINESS
NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 27 – Kenya stands to benefit massively from hosting the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, TICAD VI, which officially kicked off Saturday.
Among the benefits include the signing of the investment treaty between Kenya and Japan and the beginning of negotiations of a tax treaty between the two countries which will see Japan’s investment in Kenya increase.
This is according to Japan’s Director General for Press and Public Diplomacy Yasuhisa Kawamura.
“TICAD VI offers Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe an opportunity to visit Kenya for the first time in fifteen years. With his visit, one treaty will be signed while the negotiations for another will be started,” Kawamura said.
The two day event has been officially opened by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and is expected to witness an attendance of at least 34 Heads of State and Government.
At the same time, Kenya’s business fraternity attending the summit has been urged to interact with Japan’s business leaders for possible business relationships.
This is based on the fact that approximately 200 Japanese leading companies and over 70 business leaders from the G7 country are attending the event which gives room for exploring business opportunities in Kenya.
Kawamura says that events such as the Japan Fair and the Japan Business Fair will for instance give them insights on how to establishing trading relationships.
“Kenya’s business people attending the summit will also have an opportunity to network with their Japanese counterparts.”
A number of Memorandums of Understanding are also expected to be signed at the events including the three signed Friday.
These include one between subsidiaries of Total and Mitsubishi Corporation which is aimed at developing solar energy in the country; and the other two which are between Egis and Mitsubishi Corporation which include development of water in Cote d’Ivoire.
The three MoUs were signed during a joint event by France and Japan dedicated to assessing the progress on the implementation of the Franco-Japanese plan for sustainable development, health and security in Africa launched in 2015.
The last five years have seen Japan invest billions of dollars into Africa with an emphasis on infrastructure and human resource development in Africa.
