Her Excellency Rose Makena Murici.
By Roy Lie A Tjam.
The diplomatic community in The Hague turned out in force to participate in the celebration of Kenya’s 52nd Independence Day. The ballroom of the Hilton Hotel, The Hague, served as the backdrop for the celebration on 11 December.
H.E. Ms. Rose Makena Muchiri, Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya in the Netherlands, bid her guests Karibu – a warm welcome. Smartly attired in red and black, Ambassador Muchiri enriched her outfit with a piece of Maasai beaded jewelry, a hallmark of Maasai culture.
For a Kim Vermaat photo almbum on Kenya Independence Day, please click here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121611753@N07/albums/72157660193087364
Ambassador Muchiri delivered a powerful speech, the transcript of which follows below.
“Since gaining our Independence, we have been striving hard to be a Country where all its citizens can be proud to live and work in, having contributed towards Nation building. Our Government is committed towards investing in National Institutions and also following up and encouraging careful economic planning by both National and County Governments. Bearing in mind the great diversity of the peoples of Kenya, the Government ensures the implementation of the Constitution at all times by ensuring gender, regional and ethnic balance in all its undertakings.”
“I can confirm to you that Kenya is indeed open for business, and the opportunities for investment are manifold. Kenya is a regional financial, communication and transportation hub in Eastern Africa as well as in the sub-Saharan Africa in general. Therefore, by investing in Kenya, investors have access to not only a national population of over 40 million, but also to the larger regional market boasting of approximately 93 million and 385 million consumers in the East African Community (EAC), and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) regions respectively.
“A recent World Bank survey indicated that Kenya had risen in its global ranking for investment competitiveness in its ‘Ease of Doing Business Index’. This can be attributed to the vast business regulatory reforms. The recent weeks has also seen several business-friendly laws enacted. These include the Companies Act, Insolvency Act and Special Economic Zones Act.”
“The Government of Kenya is committed to ensure that the enabling investment environment continues to offer both fiscal and infrastructural benefits to the business community. The Government has also instituted various policy measures geared towards transforming Kenya into a vibrant middle income economy with a high quality of life, as enshrined in the National Vision 2030 development blueprint.”
“In my time as Ambassador to The Netherlands, I have seen relations between our two countries continue to grow. Our two countries are vital partners for each other’s success in various sectors. Sectors such as horticulture are able to remain successful as a result of complementary business practices and understandings. For instance, in the flower sub-sector, Kenya and The Netherlands have partnered in the last year on the National Mechanism for Compliance Project. This project brought together the flower industry players, business facilitation agents and other key stakeholders in Kenya and the Netherlands. The Mechanism reviewed and implemented new national standards, which will ensure that the players across the flower value chain operate within defined responsible practices for sustained market access. To-date Kenya holds 38% of the world flower business. ”
“As I conclude, I urge you to consider making Kenya your tourism destination of choice. On your visit to Kenya, you would be spoilt for choice from the variety of holidays available, including: beach, Wildlife Safari, Culture, Landscapes, Adventure, Sports, Heritage and many others. For your convenience, we have four International Airports in Nairobi, Kisumu, Mombasa and Eldoret with domestic air strips serving all game parks and reserves. Most of all however, you will experience the warm and friendly Kenyan people.”
“On the multilateral platform Kenya continues to proactively engage by taking part in important dialogues that shape our future whether at SDGs which as you all know was successfully co-chaired by my counterpart Ambassador Macharia Kamau of Kenya to the United Nations in New York, COP21, ICC and OPCW. On Conference Tourism, as you all know next week my country hosts the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference as well as several others next year including Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) a first for an Africa Country and UNCTAD XIV in July, 2016. This reaffirms Kenya’s robust engagement in the multilateral platform as well as the bilaterally with our friendly partners. We also continue to strengthen our regional partnerships as this particularly key towards attaining regional peace and security. We will continue to work with our partners in combating terrorism and in this regard condemn the attacks that recently took place in Belgium and France.”
“Last but not least, Starbuck coffee is here with us to share with you samples of Kenya’s high-quality coffee, again this reaffirms the importance and success of working with great partners for a win-win outcome.”
A lavish Kenyan buffet dinner was then served to guests, and the party continued.
For information: http://www.kenyanembassy-nl.com/
