OTTAWA, Canada, March 4, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, and Lenny Kivuti, Chairman of Kenya’s Senate Standing Committee on Agriculture, Land and Natural Resources, announce the launch of negotiations toward a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement (FIPA) with Kenya. The announcement was made at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s International Convention, Trade Show and Investors Exchange.
A FIPA is a treaty designed to protect Canadian investment abroad and promote foreign investment in Canada through reciprocal, legally binding provisions. By ensuring greater protection against discriminatory and arbitrary practices and by enhancing the predictability of a market’s policy framework, a FIPA gives businesses greater confidence in investing.
Canada has a well-established trading relationship with Kenya, which has an open-to-business environment and is a regional transportation hub. This relationship has the potential to expand significantly, especially in the extractive sector, which holds great potential for Canadian companies. Cumulative Canadian mining assets in Kenya amounted to $19 million in 2012. Other major areas for future Canadian investment could include aircraft service centres, call centres and hotels. Opportunities also exist for Canadian companies in clean technologies, transportation infrastructure and education.
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