Kenya pledges support for SMEs ahead of KIIE expo
The Kenyan Government has reiterated its commitment to promoting a favorable business environment to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a move expected to spur growth in the sector healing from Covid-19 shackles.
Some of the considerations by the State include tax breaks and extension of credit offering facilities by both local and foreign firms keen to invest in the country.
According to Kenya Investment Authority (KenInvest) General Manager of Investment Promotion and Business Development of Kenya Pius Rotich, such a move would help fasten the economic recovery hampered by the effects of the pandemic.
“We are constantly engaging relevant agencies in these areas and we will not relent,” said Rotich Monday during a breakfast meeting ahead of the 4th Kenya International Industrial Expo (KIIE) slated for November 17th –November 19th at Nairobi’s Sarit Expo Centre.
Adding that the expo comes at a time when the country was scaling up its manufacturing sector.
The expo is expected to focus on industrialization, the exhibition field including General Machinery, Construction Machinery, hardware & Tools, Solar & New Energy products, Auto Parts, Chemical Products and Medical Equipment, etc.
Over the past three years, the exhibition has received more than 4,800 professionals and merchants from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and other countries, with a turnover of around $ 20 million.
“Foreign exhibitors will have their local representatives being present at their respective exhibition stands at Sarit Expo Centre. These arrangements enabled the visitors to see the exhibits physically and interact with foreign companies' representatives as well as connect via virtual links for business deals negotiations,” said Gao Wei, Managing Director, Afripeak Expo Kenya Limited – the event organizer.
Over the years Gao said such exhibitions have provided both large and small businesses who use the platform to showcase their brands.
A recent National Economic Survey report by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) indicates that SMEs constitute 98 percent of all business in Kenya, create 30 percent of the jobs annually as well as contribute 3 percent of the GDP.
“Currently the government of Kenya is on a mission of transforming its economy, especially the manufacturing sector. Under the “Big Four Agenda”, the manufacturing pillar is critical to creating jobs for the youth in Kenya. In response to this initiative, such an expo seeks to link the local industries to their Chinese counterparts, and hence advance technological transfer vital in boosting local production capability,” he said.
Evolving from the previous 3 editions successfully executed in 2018, 2019, 2020, This years’ 4th edition of the Kenya International Industrial Expo will be bigger and wider in scope.
The show area covers a total of 2930 m2, including indoor and outdoor zooms. There will be altogether 103 companies participating in the exhibition, amongst which 83 are foreign exhibitors mainly from China.
