Ethiopian Review

India’s National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) has partnered with Kenya in yet another signal of the country’s growing interest in the East African region ahead of the implementation of common market next year.

Industrialisation minister, Henry Kosgey, said the partnership with Kenya Industrial Estates (KIE) involves technology transfer and marks a major step towards improving the country’s quality standards in manufacturing, production and human resources “The government is keen to forge a viable partnership with friendly countries, particularly in the spirit of south-south cooperation,” said Mr Kosgey.

The development comes barely a month since the Fed­eration of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) signed a memorandum of understand­ing with the regional lobby group for the private sector —the East African Business Council (EABC) —aimed at enhancing trade relations between India and East African Community (EAC) countries.

Under the MoU signed in Kigali, Rwanda, EABC and FICCI undertook to update each other on policy matters and various eco­nomic developments, identify bottlenecks in the expansion of economic cooperation and recommend ways and means for removal of barriers to the re­spective governments.

They also agreed to encourage traders in India and East Africa to par­ticipate in exhibitions, fairs and business fora in these regions.

Officials said the NSIC-KIE deal signed in Nairobi yesterday is part of India’s international Small and Micro Enterprise development programme.

Under the partnership, small traders in the country will get technology support and technical skills training from India while KIE facilitates enterprise-to-enterprise contact and the marketing of NSIC products in the region.

NSIC Managing Direct H P Kumar said the corporation has already signed such agreements with many other countries in northern and southern America, Asia and in Africa. In the EAC region, Uganda and Tanzania have already signed the mutual agreement with NSIC .

“This partnership fits in well with our objectives of setting up at least five SME parks, doubling growth of regional market for SME products to 15 per cent from the current seven per cent and building capacity for our small business,” said Industrialisation PS, Prof John Lonyangapuo As an emerging market, India has a keen appetite for international opportunities and virgin markets such as the EAC which boasts a combined wealth of close to $50 billion and a population of over 120 million people – a lucrative market for finished goods and a possible source for raw materials to power its industrial growth.

Kenya is an important gateway to the EAC whose interstate tariff is expected to fall to zero percent with the launch of a common market in the region by next January.

- BDAFRICA