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{
    "id": 1219286,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1219286/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 152,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kilgoris, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Julius Sunkuli",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "responsibilities. Other than the 20 per cent allowed, they are supposed to produce only for export. That comes with a lot of challenges, especially where we stand now with our economy. Like every export-oriented business, EPZ business is affected by external factors—the global economy. In the first place, the exchange rate is pegged on the dollar. When the dollar is low, then business is okay for us. However, when the dollar against the shilling is quite advantaged, then we have a problem with our export business. The dollar in Kenya now has hit Ksh138 to one dollar. That will affect our exports a lot. Our external clients will buy our goods at a cheaper price. Once this dollar becomes disadvantageous to us, then they get an advantage over us. They are getting our goods at throwaway prices right now. This affects our youth from being employed. Hon. Temporary Speaker, my second point is with respect to employment of our youth. Many of my colleagues here are thinking about their home areas. The EPZs are supposed to be for the Republic of Kenya. Even if they are located in Kilifi or Nairobi, they are supposed to serve all Kenyans. When employment opportunities arise in the EPZs, they should not be localised. We cannot localise Kenya to the smallest decimal point. Kenya is still Kenya. The opportunities that come within the EPZs, wherever they are allocated, should not be construed to be for that particular location. The other point which has been elaborated clearly by the Deputy Leader of Majority Party is this question of AGOA. It is wrong to assume that EPZs were created for AGOA. The Lomé Treaty did its part. It produced a preferential trade agreement between Sub-Saharan Africa and the USA, which passed this AGOA law knowing that it is to their advantage. They are at liberty to change this whenever their interests are not there. We, in Kenya, must always be innovative. The USA is just one of our markets, but we must expand them. President Kibaki said that we should look East. I was advantaged to be an ambassador of this country in China. I know how our trade has been coming up all the time. It has been increasing and improving with respect to Chinese. This thing is reciprocal. When we think of producing things for other countries, we must also not come and discriminate against commodities that are produced by other people. Let us open our markets abroad. Let our ambassadors abroad be economic ambassadors. We are no longer involved in political diplomacy; we already have it. We are already friends with all East African countries. What we want now is to market our commodities to produce them for the world. We cannot sit down and say that Americans are our friends today, but we know they are not. They serve their interests. If we have favourable terms for them, they are our friends. We must continue asking the rest of the world to buy our commodities. I do not know whether the Leader of Majority Party does not understand that this Government which he serves already has a policy almost equivalent to that of the Special Economic Zones, except that they call them industrial parks. They are being created everywhere in Dongo Kundu, Eldoret and many other places. This is the way to go. Economic zones will not have the same advantages as the EPZs because they will be subject to the tax regime of the country. It is a deliberate effort which is used by countries. Shenzhen City in China was created purely as an economic zone to develop industries. If we ask these industrial parks to specialise, this will make a lot of sense. If you go to Shenzhen City, you will find that it is electronics that are produced there. If you go to Shanghai City, it is another story. If you have a Special Economic Zone in Dongo Kundu, we would like to know what it specialises on so that we do not just produce the same things. The problem with us, Africans, is that if somebody grows cabbages, everybody wants to do the same. Then, the forces of the market operate. We would like to know what the industrial parks in Dongo Kundu, Eldoret and Naivasha will be producing. This will help us to specialise and then we target the market. Without the market, we will not produce those things for anybody else. We are not as lucky as those countries that have a lot of population. 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."
}