South Sudan and Ethiopia are ready markets
Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon, Vice-President of South Sudan, speaks before the United Nations General Assembly. Export processing zone investors should tap into the South Sudan and Ethiopian markets to diversify from the export restriction imposed by the East Africa Protocol.
Export processing zone investors should tap into the South Sudan and Ethiopian markets to diversify from the export restriction imposed by the East Africa Protocol. The East Africa Custom protocol demands that the East African countries in the region were now local markets and were no longer export markets. During a Coast Region investors meeting at Mombasa Beach Hotel, the Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA) Chief Executive Officer Dr Richard Mutule Kilonzo told investors that EPZ regime had not done enough in the country’s economy and required to be overhauled into Special Economic Zones (SEZ).
Dr Mutule said with the new constitution dispensation, the investors should now look for investment opportunities in the devolved county governments. Speaking to the investors, the Chief Executive urged the investors to explore opportunities that will be created by the EPZA linkage in Southern Sudan and Ethiopia that will be provided by the opening up of the Lamu corridor.
“This is an opportunity to be exploited by investors to enable the country to become a middle income economy in the next 20 years,” he said. Dr Mutule said the Authority planned to roll both physical and virtual Special Economic Zones in the country to create more investment opportunities and employment. “We are aware that if the government does not put in place a legal framework to accommodate the Special Economic Zones the economy will suffer seriously,” he said.
The chief executive told the coast region investors that the Authority was working with the top level government officials to have the Special Economic Zone Act passed. “If the Act is passed the businesses will not be affected by the 25 percent export restriction and the balance sheets will improve,’ he said.
Dr Mutule told the investors that the EPZA was looking for new partnership to support and fund the special Economic Zone enterprises and discussion were ongoing with Middle East, China and America. “We are putting on a fund for the EPZA membership to support the enterprises from the government and Internationally, ” he said.
