REMARKS BY DR. EDWARD SAMBILI, CBS, PERMANENT SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF STATE FOR PLANNING, NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND VISION 2030 DURING THE SPECIAL PRIME MINISTER'S ROUNDTABLE ON THE STATE OF THE ECONOMY, INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL, 29 TH FEBRUARY 2012

RT. Hon. Prime Minister

Hon. Ministers

My Colleague Permanent Secretaries

Captains on the Private Sector

Ladies and Gentlemen

It is now four years since the inception of the Prime Minister's Round Table meetings on August, 2008. As you are aware, these meetings have provided a structured and systematic platform for enhancing a low-cost and predictable business climate, increasing national competitiveness as well as fostering trust and transparency between the government and private sector.

The private sector has been able to articulate its priorities and requests for Government policy changes which have been useful in strengthening and enriching the Government's policymaking process and prioritisation of their implementation. In addition, the meetings have been instrumental in creating and sustaining the momentum for economic reform in both government and private sectors.

As the Ministry of Planning, we are pleased to have the opportunity to play, jointly with the Office of the Prime Minister, the role of organising of the round table meetings, facilitating the firming up of various commitments made at the roundtable meetings and tracking implementation of the commitments by line Ministries.

Having played this central role, we have witnessed the transformation of the discussions from focusing on technical questions and particular interests to articulating high-level themes with broader multi-sectoral interests such as the issues on table today. As a Ministry we will continue to support this process as we strongly believe that realisation of the Kenya Vision 2030 lies in strong and concerted efforts between the public and the private sector.

We thank the Prime Minister for his sustained commitment to this process over the last four years that has resulted in tremendous improvement of the business environment. We also acknowledge the work of government ministries in setting and delivering on their commitments and targets.

This is a process that requires our sustained commitment because Kenya's Ease of Doing Business Index is a long way from where we need to be.

Thank you