President Uhuru Kenyatta calls for common East African Community Tourist Visa

President uhuru kenyatta has said East African community (EAC) member states need to move fast to put in place a conducive investment environment that will attract foreign and domestic investors.

On this note, President Uhuru said a quick win that can be put forward and which would have a serious impact to the economies of the member states would be a common EAC Tourist Visa.

“It is my hope that our governments can work on this and other initiatives that will have tangible benefits for our economies and people,” the President said.

He noted that Uganda is a major economic partner to Kenya and gave his personal commitment to ensure Kenya does its part in facilitating trade and investment between the two countries.

He also said “Uganda is Kenya’s largest export destination globally. Kenyan companies are also leading investors in Uganda in the areas of banking, insurance, manufacturing, and agriculture. Also, most Ugandan imports and exports pass through our Port of Mombasa”.

President Kenyatta noted that it is for this reason that he directed the operations at the Port of Mombassa be streamlined with the aim of easing the clearing of cargo.

“In addition, I have directed that the relevant government agencies ensure that the movement of goods from Mombasa to Malaba takes a maximum of five days. Indeed, the current situation where goods take up to eighteen days to get to Kampala from Mombasa is untenable and unsustainable if our businesses are going to compete and transform to global corporations,”   the Head of State said

Speaking on Monday night during a state meeting held in his honor at State House Entebbe, Uganda, President Uhuru noted that regional economic integration is an important component in the development of the East African Community plus being the key to the prosperity of Uganda and Kenya.

President Uhuru raised the need for unity among the political and public service leaders in EAC Member States so as to ensure that the potential of the Community is achieved.

“With a market of over 130 million people, our east African community has the potential for rapid economic growth and massive employment creation,” the President said.

Expressing his commitment to the ideals of EAC, the President noted that his Government is looking forward to achieve the integration agenda which he noted marks the beginning of Africa reconnaissance.

He added that integration agenda can only be achieved by avoiding all non-tariff barriers to trade that may be preventing the movement of goods as well as workers across the different countries.

Further more, Uhuru said that legislatures also need to domesticate all aspects of the Customs Union and Common Market Protocols.

Speaking during the function, the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni expressed his gratitude to Kenya and other nations for helping Ugandans during their time of need adding that Kenya is home to many Ugandans.

President Uhuru is in Uganda to attend the Infrastructure and Investment Summit who is escorted by Cabinet Secretaries, Ambassador Amina Mohamed, Engineer Michael Kamau, Adan Mohammed and Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.