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"id": 180351,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/180351/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Muriithi",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Industrialization",
"speaker": {
"id": 91,
"legal_name": "Ndiritu Muriithi",
"slug": "ndiritu-muriithi"
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"content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I will be very brief, indeed. I rise to support this Bill. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to just spend a moment or so, to also talk about the things that are going right. That is because in this country, far too often, I think we spend a lot of time looking at the issues that have not gone on well. We do not spend enough time looking at issues that have gone well and communicating them to this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Minister indicated to the House that, in fact, business confidence is doing well. I Just want to point out to the House that, for example, in the first quarter of this financial year, investments that came through are somewhere in the order of Kshs39 billion. That is just three months of the first quarter of the financial year! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I raise this issue because the Investment Act that the House passed two or three years ago provides a fantastic and excellent incentive to business people in this country. If you are investing Kshs1 million or more, and you identify yourself to the Investment Authority, you will get an investment certificate which allows you 100 per cent investment allowance! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think it is for us, as hon. Members, to ensure that everybody in this country knows of that incentive, so that people who are investing feel encouraged. Just to put it into perspective, Kshs1 million may sound like a big investment and, perhaps, it is. But in reality, it is, perhaps--- A matatu vehicle on the roads today that will ferry 30 people will, certainly, cost you Kshs3 million or Kshs4 million. So, I think it is incumbent upon us, as the leadership in this country, to be able to explain that incentive to every person in Kenya, so that they can take advantage of it. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the investment certificate also allows you to start your business and for 12 months, you can be working as you process the licences that you need to process. Therefore, it is something that we need to tell everybody. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to congratulate the Minister for launching the regulations that govern the existence of credit bureaus. One of the challenges in the financial sectors is lending, cost-effectively, to small business. The other challenge is to give personal credit in an efficient and cost-effective manner. The operation of credit bureaus, by using historical credit information, make it very easy for the financial sector to automate the processes of lending. Therefore, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to congratulate the Minister. I do hope that in the near future, we can incorporate more data. At the moment, the bureaus will be working with data from the financial sector. But there are many operations in the economy that are, in fact, consumed on credit. Take utilities, for example. Everybody consumes electricity power, November 11, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3367 water and telephone services on credit. Therefore, globally, the best practice is to ensure that this information is also included in the operations of credit bureaus. I hope that, in the not so distant future, the Minister will find it fit and possible to include the use of other consumer credit data such as is available in utilities. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, many speakers who have spoken before me have talked about the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) and the effects of the global crisis in the financial market. I also want to highlight an incentive that exists in our current laws; but there is one that is not being used very well. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you wish to list an enterprise on the stock exchange, all you need is Kshs20 million. Again, it may sound like a lot of money but, to use my matatu example, that certainly is about worth four or five matatus and then you are on the stock exchange. If you look at other stock exchanges in this continent--- if you look at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, for example, many enterprises like bars and restaurant chains are listed. If you were to list your enterprise on the stock exchange, the law says that the Minister will only charge you Income Tax at 20 per cent to motivate you, or make it worth your while to go and raise capital from the stock exchange. Therefore, again, I believe that it is upon us, as hon. Members and the leadership in this country, to explain these incentives to everybody, so that they can take advantage of them and business can thrive in this country. I want to speak about the opportunities that exist for our small businesses. As you know, we are moving fairly rapidly towards a common market in the East Africa region. This is 120 million people! This December, COMESA is starting its Customs Union - I am about to finish so that my colleagues can also contribute. But in order for businesses to take advantage of this, they will need to step up their content, so that they can obtain a certificate of origin that certifies that they have 35 per cent local content. Very few companies step up content for this purpose, and I would encourage Kenyan businesses to step up content because 400 million people is a sizeable market, indeed. With those very many remarks, I beg to support."
}