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{
"id": 1077239,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1077239/?format=api",
"text_counter": 99,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Amb. Ukur Yatani",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary, National Treasury and Planning",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Hon. Speaker, in order to improve access to land as a factor for development, we have stepped up investment in the sector and rolled out ambitious national program of land titling and digitisation of land records. Tea and coffee sub-sectors provide livelihoods to millions of Kenyans. Despite its contribution to foreign exchange earnings, the returns to farmers have been declining due to low productivity, high input costs, low levels of value addition and weak regulatory and institutional framework. Under the ongoing reforms in the coffee and tea sectors, I will be proposing further measures to enhance competitiveness of these sub-sectors. I will be proposing further measures to enhance competitiveness of these sub-sectors. With regard to manufacturing the Government has revived and transformed textile, leather and automobile industries, which have in turn created jobs for our youth. The full operationalisation of Special Economic Zones in Dongo Kundu, Naivasha and Kisumu will support local industrial activities and unlock additional employment opportunities. The Government over the years has supported local assembly of motor vehicles and motorcycles by providing various tax incentives. These include removal of excise duty on locally assembled motor vehicles, duty-free importation of completely knocked down kits and reduced corporate tax from 30 to 15 percent for the first five years of operation. I am pleased to note that the industry has responded positively to these interventions and to date, we have approved thirteen motor vehicle and seventeen motor cycle assemblers. These local assemblers have created employment opportunities while also saving the country substantial foreign exchange. Whereas, the assembly of commercial vehicles has registered tremendous growth, the passenger category of motor vehicles remains under-developed. This category is still dominated by imported used vehicles comprising over 70 per cent of passenger vehicles, which is largely attributed to the high cost of assembly. In this regard, the Government is working on a framework to support the assembly of affordable passenger vehicles. Further, the Government, in consultations with stakeholders, is in the final stages of instituting comprehensive policy and administrative reforms to fully entrench local assembly of motor vehicles and motor cycles. While we have made tremendous progress as a nation, we remain alive to structural constraints that impede the pace of economic development. Aware that a resilient and sustainable economic recovery is indeed predicated on timely implementation of appropriate policy, legal and institutional reforms, I propose the following interventions to improve the business environment, increase efficiency in public service delivery and strengthen accountability and transparency in public finance management. Hon. Speaker, on procurement, this House approved the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations, 2020, that came into effect in July 2020. With these regulations, it is now easier for procuring entities to meet the specified requirements of bilateral and multi-lateral agreements, technology and knowledge transfer, local content and employment quotas among others. For smooth implementation of the regulations, we have conducted capacity building in all the 47 counties. I, therefore, direct procuring entities to fully comply with these regulations. In order to ensure efficiency in the procurement process and facilitate access by micro, small and medium enterprises, the Government has reviewed the consolidation policy on procurement of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) equipment and related services. In this regard, procurement of ICT equipment and related services will be decentralised to various ministries, departments and agencies with effect from 1st July 2021. Hon. Speaker, last year, we began the process of automating public procurement through end-to-end electronic procurement system. So far, we have developed an implementation strategy that re-engineers all public procurement processes, including functional and technical The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}