The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry wants the United Arab Emirates to relax visa rules to ease access to the South East of Arabia Gulf nation.
KNCCI chairman Kiprono Kittony said trade with the UAE is hampered by stringent procedures local businessmen must undergo before being cleared.
“We have come up with a joint business council with the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce to improve our working partnership, and have gone further to appoint a KNCCI representative to the country to speed up doing business. However, businessmen are still finding it difficult to access the nation,” he said in Nairobi yesterday during a UAE trade mission to Kenya forum.
A Sharjah-based food processing firm announced plans to enter the Kenyan market, with a $16 million (Sh1.62 billion) investment.
Delta Food Industries said it has agreed with Mombasa-based food processing company, Milly Fruit Processors, to start processing tomato pastes.
The Kilifi-based plant is known for its Picana range of ready-to-consume fruit drinks which range from mango, pineapple and passion drinks.
The company said it will also make pulps and concentrates used in the production of fruit cheese, jams, nectars, juices and other beverages.
Delta Food Industries director Shiraz Osman said discussions are underway to pave the way for the installation of machinery and eventual employment of up to 6,000 workers. The plant will process and export tomato pastes.
“There is a ready market for tomato products with a consumption need of 70,000 to 80,000 metric tonnes in UAE per year, against the available 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes per year,” Osman said.
Current trade volumes between the two countries are in favour of the UAE.
In 2015, Kenya’s imports from the Middle East were valued at Sh90.6 billion against Sh29.2 billion worth of exports.