Kibaki heads for Doha summit
President Mwai Kibaki leaves the country Friday for a three day official visit to Doha, Qatar to attend the International Conference on Financing and Development. The conference comes against the backdrop of the global financial crunch that has slowed down the economies of many countries. The situation has been aggravated by the high energy and food price which calls for urgent attention by the international community. The conference is expected to review the implementation of the consensus of an earlier conference held in Monterrey, Mexico in 2002 where developed countries agreed to provide assistance and promote an enabling international environment for financing development in developing countries. On their part, developing countries took the primary responsibility for their development through mobilizing domestic resources. The Doha conference will also discuss ways of financing development in developing countries through investment, trade, aid and debt relief. During the conference, developing countries are expected to present their case for continued support from developed countries, particularly in achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.