NAIROBI, Sept 20 (NNN-KBC) — Kenya and India have commenced negotiations for a Ksh 32.3 billion ($250m) credit line that is expected to enhance bilateral trade between the two countries.
A Joint Trade Committee of the two nations which is expected to meet in due course will discuss and highlight key areas of investments targeting agriculture, manufacturing and pharmaceuticals sectors.
Speaking during a meeting with Indian High Commissioner to Kenya Namgya Khampa, Industrialization, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya said Ksh 12.9 billion of the total funds will be used to support value addition through the County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs).
“The $250m for us we are looking at how it can improve value addition in the agricultural sector. We have 19 CAIPs and most of them have identified agriculture value addition as a critical component. Our idea is that if it goes through then we apportion $100m to directly support CAIPS in inspiring the value addition. But as it is now, it still open and is still under discussion,” said Mvurya.
The outcome of the negotiations by the JTC is anticipated to help accelerate bilateral trade between the two countries, accelerate realization of ongoing projects and address bottlenecks that are hindering trade.
According to CS Mvurya, bilateral trade between the two countries has increased by at least 50pc within the last three years with India unveiling a Ksh 1.9 billion ($15m) to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) acquire machinery in India through the Kenya Development Corporation (KDC).
“There is a project that is coming up around Thika which is going to be major on pharmaceutical and this is an investment that is already being implemented and therefore we were recapping on how we can accelerate this investment,” he added.
Kenya is further targeting to attract Indian firms to invest in the Export Processing Zones (EPZ) and Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in order to catalyze Kenya’s manufacturing agenda.
“We fully reciprocate the interest and the sentiments around growing our trade and economic partnership with Kenya. We believe it’s a key pillar of the engagement we have with Kenya and we are committed to taking it forward,” stated Khampa.
Though the JTC India is also seeking to open up its market to more Kenyan products besides avocadoes which Kenya begun exporting to the Asian nation last year.
“The market has opened up now and we are getting avocado traffic from Kenya to India. The market in India is huge and the demand is huge so there is a lot of room to still accelerate and scale up avocado exports from Kenya to India and we welcome that,” added Khampa.
According to India’s Department of Commerce, total trade between India and Kenya in the FY2023/24 was valued at $3.2 billion out of which Indian exports to Kenya amounted to $3.2 billion while imports from Kenya to India amounted to $176.34 million. — NNN-KBC
