KENYA – Kenya has diversified its export products that majorly cover horticulture and tea to also include livestock to Indonesia after inking a deal to ship 700,000 cattle starting August this year.
This trade is an aftermath of a bilateral agreement that was officiated by signatories from the Kenyan trade Cabinet Secretary, Moses Kuria, and the Indonesia Animal Production and Animal Health Director General Ir Nasrullah.
Moses Kuria had met a delegation in the South Asian country to explore business partnerships between Kenya and Indonesia, and they agreed to start shipping the cattle by August.
“We discussed the opportunity for Kenya to access the 700,000 cattle per year import market in Indonesia and agreed to hasten approval protocols that will enable the first shipment of 20,000 herds by August 2023,” Kuria said on his Twitter handle.
According to the tweet, the visit also aimed to strengthen bilateral relations and explore future trade and investment partnerships between Kenya and Indonesia in various sectors.
Kuria also met his Indonesian counterpart, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, for discussions ranging from trade and investment cooperation, economic growth, and strategies for sustainable development.
According to Kuria’s tweet, both ministers expressed their commitment to exploring the possibility of a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Kenya and Indonesia.
It highlighted the ministers’ insights on the potential for collaboration in the manufacturing sector, specifically in textile and apparel.
“Both ministers expressed their commitment to exploring the possibility of a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Kenya and Indonesia,” it added.
A communique from the CS’s office said the two leaders deliberated on post-COVID-19 export growth, the importance of providing fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to promote investment and industrialization, particularly through Export Processing Zones, as well as business-to-business (B2B) engagement in fostering stronger trade ties.
“Indonesia’s president, Joko Widoto, is set to visit Kenya at a later-to-be-announced date to further strengthen bilateral relations and open new avenues for cooperation across various sectors between the two countries,” the communique added.
In January last year, Kenya resumed the export of cattle to Oman after a 16-year ban allowing Kenya to export livestock to Oman and Gulf region every month.
The Western Asian country agreed to boost livestock trade with Kenya in coming years, with Kenya’s Ambassador to Oman, Sheikh Mohammed Dor, saying Kenya has the potential to export more than 500,000 heads annually.
In 2008, Indonesian and Kenyan foreign ministers signed a memorandum of understanding in Nairobi to establish a Joint Commission between Indonesia and Kenya.
The commission serves as a forum to expand and improves cooperation sectors, also to solve bilateral problems.
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