Kenya’s President, William Ruto on Wednesday, December 13 officially presided over the opening of the second annual Kenya Diaspora Investment Conference (KDIC) at Kenyatta International Conference Center in Nairobi.
The three-day conference has been themed Tujenge Kenya; Bridging Borders, Building Futures. The event aims to highlight and present investment opportunities across various sectors of the economy.
“I am delighted to join you for this important Diaspora Investment Conference where powerful conversations shall take place touching on the core of The Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda,” Ruto stated
At the same time, the event will provide opportunities to members of the Diaspora to engage in discussions. The discussion will be on the legal and regulatory framework related to diaspora investments. Likewise, the event also seeks to facilitate networking and collaboration among different stakeholders.
The forum will provide a robust deliberation on various dimensions of investment. They range from general experiences to sectoral components. This components are like financial services, real estate and strategic value chains like agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare and the creative economies.
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Kenya Initiatives to Diaspora
According to Ruto, the government pledged to create a dedicated state department for diaspora affairs. The department mandate is to improve government service delivery. It will also establish a diaspora forum, promote greater local investment by Kenyans living abroad.
On the other hand, the department needs to facilitate, through intentional measures greater access to overseas employment opportunities for Kenyans. It’s also required to foster the transfer of knowledge skills and technology through strategic engagement.
More over, the department also promotes the social welfare of Kenya’s diaspora. It does this leveraging the diaspora to enhance Kenya’s international profile.
The first engagement with the Diaspora in December 2022, the government committed to decentralize, automate and digitise many government services. This was important in helping the Diaspora to access online services without travelling to get consular services.
“I can confirm that we have expanded digital provision of public services to encompass 14,000 services. Its is our commitment to ensure full digitization, which has not only enhanced efficiency and integrity in the provision of government services but also improved revenue collection,” Ruto stated.
Kenya’s president also confirmed that the government has rolled out the Mobile Consular Service exercise. The Services will covered 22 countries. Likewise it will also serve over 9,000 Kenyans abroad at the closest points to where they live.
Additionally, the president also stated that the government is intentioned to connect highly skilled and innovative human capital, with employment opportunities.
“We have developed the Global Labour Market Strategy that will facilitate Kenyans, especially the youth, to find work abroad,” Ruto added.
Kenya’s President further urged the diaspora to build the nation that thrives on the collective efforts of its people, both at home and abroad.