Kenya to review trade agreements to boost exports
Xinhua | 20 June 2017
Kenya to review trade agreements to boost exports
Kenya is currently reviewing all its bilateral trade agreements it has signed with other countries with a view to enhancing exports, officials said on Tuesday.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives Chris Kiptoo told Xinhua in Nairobi that the review follows the approval of the National Trade Policy by the Cabinet early this month.
"We hope to complete the review of bilateral trade agreements by the end of the year," Kiptoo said on the sidelines of a consultative meeting between Kenya and Commercial Attaches representing foreign countries in Kenya.
The East Africa nation has so far signed over 35 trade agreement with other nations. "The objective of the exercise is for Kenya to reap maximum benefit from agreements that it has signed," Kiptoo said.
The review will help Kenya to identify those agreements which we can fully implement and those that that have difficulties in implementation.
The government official noted that Kenya’s exports have grown slightly or stagnated over the past decade while imports have more than doubled.
The PS said that despite Kenya signing a lot of bilateral agreements, Kenya’s exports are not growing as expected.
"Unfortunately, imports are growing faster than exports meaning other countries could be benefiting more from Kenya, than Kenya is reaping from the relationships," he added.
The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry has signed over 120 agreements with counterparts of other nations.
The ministry of industry has set a target of increasing exports as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product from the current 15 to 30 percent by the year 2020.
