Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday evening commissioned the Chinese-invested Global Trade Center, a new landmark in the capital city Nairobi.
NAIROBI, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday evening commissioned the Chinese-invested Global Trade Center in the capital city Nairobi.
Kenyatta flipped the switch to light up the 42-floor, 184-meter Global Trade Center (GTC) skyscraper that has been under construction since October 2014 by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).
"As the government of Kenya, we applaud the AVIC team for this milestone, and as a flagship project in Kenya's Vision 2030, I am proud to see it come to fruition," Kenyatta said.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (Middle) commissions the Chinese-invested Global Trade Center in the capital city Nairobi on Dec. 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Long Lei)
Ma Chengyuan, chief representative of AVIC International Holding Corporation in Kenya said with the total value of around 520 million U.S. dollars invested by AVIC, GTC is a new city concept which is a complex building with 6 towers, including one 42-floor 3A plus level office building, one 35-floor five-star J.W. Marriott hotel and four 31-floor high-rise residential apartments.
"The office tower is expected to be the landmark in Kenya and even in East Africa. We had over 3,000 local engineers and employees here. We were working together and try our best to make this happen with quality and speed," Ma said.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta commissions the Chinese-invested Global Trade Center in the capital city Nairobi on Dec. 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Long Lei)
Gong Yuxian, managing director of AVIC Kenya, further introduced that the GTC tower was built and pegged on the hotel, office, parking, shopping mall, convention, and apartment (HOPSCA) concept for architecture design. "The first of its kind in East Africa with an aim to improve the quality of life and to enhance the residential value of the Westlands area," Gong added.
Gong said that the real estate development has created employment for thousands of locals and it is bound to create several business opportunities for the Kenyan economy.
"Now the center is welcoming all investors and is officially ready to be rented out," he noted.
