Deputy President William Ruto has lauded the new initiative ‘Made in Kenya’ brand launched on Tuesday, saying its long been known that as a country, we needed to develop an iconic Kenyan branding. “‘The Made in Kenya’ brand we hope will set Kenya apart as the home of a set of products that meet the ends of discerning buyers across the world,” said DP Ruto. Addressing participants at the Kenya Trade Week Expo at KICC, Ruto said manufacturers, producers and small businesses will take advantage of the new mark to promote their products in the new and old markets, “The better to win for us the attention and sales we deserve and win more of the value of our products,” he outlined.
The Deputy President further highlighted the firm steps taken by the nation to enhance international trade relations, “We are members of COMESA and have also been committed to the integration of EAC. We have duty free market access to te Eropean Union for most of the products from this region,” he said. The DP said the trade partnership with the EU under the EAC-EU economic partnership agreement remains strong as does the agreement with the USA under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The AGOA legislation enhances market access to the US for qualifying Sub Saharan countries and Ruto acknowledged that it has opened up the market for thousands of products in Kenya.
However, he said the partnerships have to be re-examined to see how they can be made more productive, and that the AGOA strategy action has already been launched as a result of that. “We look to it to guide our efforts to raise the volume of exports to the USA and widen the range,” he said, and that they look forward to continued collaboration.
