EAC ministry gets Sh6bn for regional trade, tourism plans

Tourists watch birds at the Lake Nakuru National Park in the past. The tourism allocation is to be used mainly to sustain the country’s marketing campaigns. FILE 

By WANGUI MAINA

The newly created East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism ministry got an allocation of Sh6 billion.

Investment banker Phyllis Chepkosgey Kandie, if confirmed as Cabinet secretary, will be expected to use the funds to increase tourism earnings and arrivals, deepen East African Community (EAC) integration and increase earnings from trade among other performance indicators.

In the leaner 18-member Cabinet, President Uhuru Kenyatta merged the Ministry of East African Community and Regional Co-operation, Trade and Tourism into the new East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism, which has the departments of commerce and tourism.

The allocation is Sh1.27 billion less than that given to the three previous ministries in the 2012/2013 budget.

Nearly half of the funds, Sh2.72 billion, will go to the department of trade, which has been set a target of increasing export earnings and the contribution of domestic trade to the economy by easing market access of locally produced goods.

Nearly a third of the budget, Sh1.92 billion, will go to tourism development and marketing. The government is looking to increase international tourist arrivals to 2.3 million and earnings to Sh105 billion, in the medium term.

Economic woes in Europe, which accounts for more than 40 per cent of the country’s tourists, and continued travel advisories against Kenya adversely affected the sector leading to a two per cent drop in earnings, to Sh96.02 billion last year. Arrivals dropped by 29,000 to 1.23 million.

The tourism allocation is to be used to sustain the country’s marketing campaigns and also develop, diversify and maintain standards in new and existing tourists’ products, according to the budget estimates.

Co-ordination of EAC affairs has been allocated Sh1.37 billion, 22.9 per cent, to help deepen and widen integration in the bloc.

In the medium term the government will work towards being fully compliant with the Common External Tariffs structure and build one-stop border posts.

The State is also looking to construct two regional integration centres as well as harmonisation of agricultural commodity standards in the region, among other programmes.