Good news to Kenya livestock farmers as the country has brokered a deal which will see them export up to 700,000 head of cattle to Indonesia annually.
According to Moses Kuria, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, the deal is part of an agreement finalised on Tuesday between the ministry and the Director General of Indonesia Animal Production and Animal Health, Ir Nasrullah.
“We discussed the opportunity for Kenya to access the 700,000 cattle per year import market in Indonesia. We agreed to hasten approval protocols that will enable the first shipment of 20,000 herds by August 2023,” the trade minister said in a tweet after the meeting.
Kuria, who is visiting the Southeast Asian country, met a delegation to explore business partnerships between Kenya and Indonesia, where they agreed to start shipping the cattle by August.
He also met his Indonesian counterpart, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, for discussions ranging from trade and investment cooperation, economic growth, and strategies for sustainable development.
A communique from the CS’s office said the two leaders deliberated on post-COVID-19 export growth, the importance of providing fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to promote investment and industrialization, particularly through Export Processing Zones, as well as business-to-business (B2B) engagement in fostering stronger trade ties.
Kuria and Pandjaitan also discussed a possible preferential trade agreement between Kenya and Indonesia.
“Both ministers expressed their commitment to exploring the possibility of a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Kenya and Indonesia,” the statement said, adding that the ministers highlighted the potential for collaboration in the manufacturing sector, specifically in textile and apparel.
Indonesia’s president, Joko Widoto, is set to visit Kenya at a later-to-be-announced date to further strengthen bilateral relations and open new avenues for cooperation across various sectors between the two countries.
In January last year, Kenya resumed the export of cattle to Oman after a 16-year ban. The Western Asian country agreed to boost livestock trade with Kenya in coming years, with Kenya’s Ambassador to Oman, Sheikh Mohammed Dor, saying Kenya has the potential to export more than 500,000 heads annually.
Sheikh Dor at the time said Kenya will be exporting livestock every month to Oman and Gulf region.
By 2020, the top partner countries to which Kenya Exports Animal include United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Uganda and Italy.
