{"id":680241,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/680241/?format=json","text_counter":121,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Njomo","speaker_title":"","speaker":{"id":1784,"legal_name":"Jude L. Kangethe Njomo","slug":"jude-l-kangethe-njomo"},"content":"more located outside the municipalities of Nairobi and Mombasa as approved by the cabinet secretary for the National Treasury upon recommendation by the Cabinet Secretary responsible for matters relating to industrialisation. In order to spur economic growth, create wealth and employment opportunities and reduce poverty in line with Vision 2030, I propose to exempt from import declaration fees (IDF) and railway levy, importation of materials for direct and exclusive use in construction by developers and/or investors in industrial parks of 100 acres or more located outside the municipalities of Nairobi and Mombasa, approved by the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury on recommendation by the Cabinet Secretary responsible for industrialization. Among the partner states in East Africa, Kenyan manufacturers and investors pay the highest IDF fees of 2.25 per cent while in Uganda, they are zero-rated. In Tanzania, they attract a levy of 0.8 per cent. Kenyans pay a further levy of 1.5 per cent putting them at a total disadvantage when it comes to competing and also at the cost of production. This venture will enhance cost-saving to the investors, which will further be translated into availability of more funds to increase their investment. Ultimately, this will mean that there will be more jobs created in our country because the industries will expand further and spur rapid economic growth in areas outside Nairobi and Mombasa, where we actually need that growth."}