NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 7 – Kenya China Chamber of Commerce and Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Nairobi Chapter have lauded the Governments of Kenya and the People’s Republic of China for signing six memorandums of understanding and protocols terming the move as ‘revolutionary’.
The two governments signed six memorandums of understanding and agreements on trade, investments, digital innovation, green development, in an event overseen by Kenyan Foreign Minister Raychelle Omamo and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi who was on a two-day visit
The six are aimed at increasing import and export opportunities for small and medium enterprises, whose end goal will be to reduce trade imbalance between the two countries.
Speaking at a press conference in Nairobi, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce, Nairobi Chapter Chairman, Julius Opio welcomed the decision between the two countries, terming it revolutionary.
“This is a big opportunity because trade and trade-related matters, as well as investment, are of great importance to both countries. This is an area that we are looking forward to strengthening, deepening and indeed cementing,” said Opio.
“You will agree with me that it is only by working together that we can achieve the desired outcomes for closer bilateral cooperation and strategic partnerships. We have definitely made good strides,” he added.
Kenya China Chamber of Commerce, Chairman Tim Chen said that these six MOU’s will further strengthen the relationship between Kenya and China business communities.
“Our aim is to connect business people in the two countries with opportunities, facilitate trade and help solve import & export issues. Therefore, these MOU’s are most welcome, because we need to support Kenyan agro-processing sectors through value addition,” Chen said.
He pointed that Kenya has the best opportunity to export and add value to agricultural products such as Avocado.
“I am happy that Avocados processing were part of the bilateral discussion. This will benefit so many farmers from Kenya and uplift them from abject poverty. In addition, China will also increase investment in Kenya through various sectors, which will support in reducing the balance of trade, whereas the relief support MOU will benefit greatly the entire country,” he explained.
The world is moving to the green economy and China stand to benefit from Kenya, on this front, considering it has made a lot of strides.
Kenya also signed an MOU on the establishment of a working group that will look into issues of tariff and non-tariff barriers to Kenya-China trade and fast track increase in exports from Kenya to China.
