President Mwai Kibaki has asked Kenyan Ambassadors and High Commissioners to develop strategies to market Kenya as a competitive and attractive destination with excellent opportunities and facilities for foreign investors.

Noting that the envoys should promote the country's economic and trade interests, President Kibaki said he expected every mission to apply the performance contracting procedures with clear targets for results.

Said the President, "I expect all our missions to project a positive image and perception of Kenya by giving correct information about the country and its achievements in your regular interactions with governments, media, public and other interested parties in the countries of your accreditation."

President Kibaki was addressing the Ambassadors and High Commissioners when he opened their 14 th conference at the Windsor golf and country club, Nairobi.

The President emphasized that Kenyan missions abroad should change the way they work and be more aggressive in marketing Kenya's economic interests, influencing regional and international affairs and in promoting the country's image abroad.

The Head of State revealed that the government intends to invest 500 billion shillings in flagship projects covering six key sectors that are crucial to raising economic growth rate progressively towards the target of 10 percent per year by twenty twelve.

He said the sectors included tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale and retail, financial services and business process outsourcing.

Noting that the investments would begin later this year, President Kibaki said they will cover infrastructure, training and deployment of highly skilled young professionals, irrigation, new seeds and livestock breeds and strengthening of public institutions to deliver the required levels of service.

"The six sectors will offer attractive investment opportunities for international renowned hotel and resort chains, agribusiness, supermarket chains, financial services firms and support of ICT and business processing services from the countries where many of you are accredited," he added.

The President went on to say that the government had developed an ambitious roadmap for economic and social development to the year twenty thirty anchored on three pillars, the economic pillar, the social pillar and the political pillar.

He explained that the economic pillar aims to raise Kenya's growth rate from 6 to 10 percent and maintain it there for twenty years, the social pillar aims at developing a just and cohesive society, while the political pillar is to entrench the practice of issue based, accountable and democratic governance in the country.

President Kibaki pointed out that when the government came into power four and half years ago, it promised to empower Kenyans socially, economically and politically, adding government has turned around the economy, providing the country with four years of consistently improving economic performance.

Noting that this was the longest period of sustained economic performance that Kenya has enjoyed in the last three decades, President Kibaki recalled that it began with 2.9 percent in 2003, 5.1 percent in 2004, 5.7 percent in 2005 and over 6 percent in 2006.

He observed that economic recovery strategy also recognized the need to emphasize economic diplomacy as a means of securing more economic opportunities as such as markets access abroad and foreign direct investment and expressed satisfaction that the strategy has served the country well with tremendous expansion in regional and international trade.