High Commissioner of Kenya Ms. Nyambura Kamau has requested Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry to submit its input at the Ministry of Commerce about exportable products which can be supplied by Karachi to Kenya so that the same could also be negotiated in the next Joint Trade Committee (JTC) meeting to be held soon.
“We want to ensure that Karachi’s business community is not left behind and they also benefit from expanded trade between the two countries”, said Kenyan High Commissioner, “One of the issues to be negotiated by JTC pertains to exchanging list of tradeable goods between the two countries. Our proposal will be that Pakistan and Kenya should identify at least 20 products each having competitive advantage to expand trade which currently remains confined to exporting tea from Kenya and rice from Pakistan.
Exchanging views at a meeting during her visit to Karachi Chambers, Ms. Nyambura Kamau said, “Under the bilateral trade agreement between Kenya and Pakistan signed in 1983, a Joint Trade Committee was formulated which was scheduled to meet in April 2022 but it couldn’t and now, Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce has given go ahead for JTC Meeting and we are waiting for confirmation of date from the Kenyan delegation.”
Kenyan High Commissioner, while identifying Karachi as the most important city in Pakistan, said that the city successfully represents huge percentage of commercial interest of Pakistan. “We recognize the importance of Karachi as this is the place from where most of the Kenyan goods including tea get access to Pakistani market and beyond. We are, hence, really interested in creating linkages with Karachi’s business community through Karachi Chambers because of its strategic location to achieve the development agenda of both our countries.”
She stressed the need to exchange investment opportunities, regular visits of business delegations, technology transfer & information sharing along with expansion of exportable products between Kenya and Pakistan.
To strengthen business relations, she suggested to develop a mechanism for addressing barriers to trade and investment, organizing joint business networking meetings, seminars, exhibitions, trade fairs and other promotional activities.
