Kenya, India bilateral trade volume jumps 40pc to hit Ksh28.7tr
BUSINESS: Bilateral trade volume between India and Kenya jumped by 40 per cent to Sh28.7 trillion ($2.9 billion) in the financial year 2021/2022 from Sh22.1 trillion ($ 2.2 billion) in 2019/20.
Outgoing High Commissioner of India to Kenya, Virander Paul indicated yesterday that this volume is likely to increase as the two countries are opening more business areas of collaboration.
He outlined some of those trade interests as ceramics, power and electrical, healthcare and agricultural equipment.
Business community
“India and Kenya’s private sector has been co-operating and as the Covid-19 disease is receding more and more business community members from India are visiting Kenya to partner with their local counterparts,” he said.
Virander made the remarks at the India House in Nairobi during celebrations to mark the Asian economic powerhouse’s 75th Independence Day. He revealed that business tours between the two countries’ business communities had intensified despite the Covid-19 pandemic threat.
“In recent months we have had four business delegations participating in very impressive trade expos,” he said, noting that both business communities are looking to strike deals in various fields of interest.
Virander expressed optimism that even after the exhibitions; the two counterpart business communities have remained in constant touch as a demonstration that the visits were not just a one-off business come and go.
At the heart of the two countries’ enhanced trade relations, on Sunday, the Indian Naval Ship, the INS Talwar docked at the Port of Mombasa with Virander stating that his country has confidence in Kenya’s East African Coast as the preferred destination.
“The menu of collaboration is certainly expanding, he noted. In August 2021, the INS Talwar arrived at the Port of Mombasa for a training exercise on East Africa’s coast to assess and improve regional and maritime awareness, as well as promote national and regional security.
INS Talwar conducts coastal and offshore patrols, monitoring of sea lines of communication, maritime diplomacy and counter-terrorism operations.
