Kenyan HC for enhancing trade with Pakistan

According to Business Recorder, Kenyan High Commissioner Lieutenant General Peter Mbogo Njiru (retd) called for sustained engagement to lift trade with Pakistan during a session with businesspeople at the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI). He said bilateral trade is well below its potential, although several Pakistani traders already work with Kenya and regular contact would deepen those ties. He offered to arrange B2B meetings and cooperation between the chambers of both countries.

He encouraged Pakistani firms to view Kenya as a gateway to the wider African continent, where surplus goods could be exported duty-free from factories set up in Kenya. He pointed to Kenya's free trade agreements with the United States and China as additional export routes. He also named information technology, pharmaceuticals, surgical instruments, textiles and light machinery as sectors of interest.

FCCI President Farooq Yousaf Sheikh said Faisalabad accounts for around 57 percent of Pakistan's textile exports and has diversified into tiles, pharmaceuticals and information technology. Trade with Kenya currently stands at around USD1 billion, and efforts will be made to double it over the next five years. Senior Vice President Naveed Akram Sheikh already exports confectionery to more than 20 African countries, while Sheikh highlighted problems Pakistani traders face in Kenya and called for them to be resolved on a priority basis.