Trade and Investments Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria defended his decision to set up his office at the Sh25 billion Two Rivers Mall in Ruaka.
Speaking during an interview with Trevor Ombija on Monday night, February 20, CS Moses Kuria said he set up his office at Two Rivers Mall to give investors a world-class experience.
Citing the ministry’s former offices in the NSSF building, the minister said the new location was a much-needed upgrade.
He also responded that the Sh25 billion mall was partly owned by the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation, a parastatal under his ministry.
“The registered office of my Ministry is on the 17th floor of the NSSF Building. Two Rivers Mall which people are talking about is owned by the Ministry of Investment Trade and Industry; it is like somebody accusing you of being in your own house,” he said.
“I visit many countries. I know the environment which investors enjoy in those particular countries. I benchmark with many countries I am going to give investors an environment that ranks equivalent to what other countries do,” Kuria added.
He explained that his ambitions plan to move foreign direct investment from $500 million to $10 billion, accusing Ombija of delving into trivial matters.
The minister said he had met ten presidents and one former head of state in February.
He noted that his appointment as special envoy by President William Ruto has facilitated him in advancing Kenya’s trade agenda to other countries.
“In all these tours I was not sending myself, I was appointed as a special envoy by President William Ruto to talk to our neighbours and try to reestablish our leadership in terms of the region, to try to push through a couple of agreements that we feel as of strategic value and importance to the country,” the Cabinet Secretary said.
He explained that his ministry and that of Foreign Affairs are like conjoined twins because the government’s foreign interest is the economy, business, investment and trade.
He also defended the rationale behind the proposed increase in the price of electricity, saying the current tariffs favour household usage at the disadvantage of industrial usage.
“On the cost of energy, it is a difficult conversation that we are going to have. We need to help the consumer but at the same time we need to look at our competitiveness and our attractiveness as a manufacturing company,” Kuria spoke.
He said that the country has to help manufacturers create jobs for Kenyans, and at the same time, put industries on the spot for importing locally available goods and repackaging them as their own.
