World focus shifts to Kenya as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) 10th ministerial Conference kicks off in Nairobi next week, the first such meeting on African soil.
President Uhuru Kenyatta will open the session, which is WTO’s top-most decision-making body, on Tuesday. Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Amina Mohammed will chair the meeting. The gathering can make decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements as it brings together all members of the WTO, all of which are countries or customs unions. The biannual four-day event is schedule to attract 7,000 delegates from at least 160 countries, as global Heads of States and governments, leaders, civil societies, academia and top business minds converge in Nairobi. The meeting will also witness the entry of two countries — Liberia and Afghanistan — to the organisation’s membership. According to the Tourism ministry, each delegate is expected to part with an average Sh375,000 during their stay, translating to about Sh2.6 billion to the economy. Tourism Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala, in assuring the participants that all preparations to host the function at Kenya International Conventional Centre (KICC) are complete, terms it as an eye-opener to other upcoming conferences.
“This is the biggest conference ever to be hosted in Sub-Saharan Africa and we are not taking chances in ensuring that we meet the international standards,” said the CS as delegates began to stream into the country yesterday. Mr Balala argued that the meeting showcases Kenya’s preparedness on conference tourism. It is estimated that more than 65 hotels have been booked. Of key concern especially to Kenya is the economics of scale in terms of market access for developing countries that have in the past been shortchanged in international trade chain.
The meeting comes on the backdrop of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, co-opened by US President Barack Obama and President Kenyatta in July.
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