The second of the sectoral trade delegations organized by the Istanbul Chemicals and Chemical Products Exporters’ Association (IKMIB) for the entire sub-sector of chemistry was held in Kenya. The “Chemistry Industry Kenya Sectoral Trade Delegation”, organized to increase the exports of the chemical industry, expand its export markets and increase its share in the markets it exists, was held in Nairobi between 20-24 November 2022. In the event led by Ersin Kayalar, Member of the Board of İKMİB, and attended by 33 representatives from 21 Turkish companies operating in 5 sectors, including pharmaceutical-food supplements, cosmetics-cleaning, plastic household and kitchenware, paint and chemical raw materials, 167 Kenyan business people and 360′ More than one bilateral business meeting was held. “We export the most fertilizer” İKMİB Chairman of the Board Adil Pelister said, “As İKMİB, we continue to support our exporters. In this context, we organized the second of our chemical sectoral trade delegations to Kenya after Uzbekistan. Kenya is the largest economy in East Africa with a population of over 50 million. The country, which is the economic, commercial, financial and logistics center of East Africa, is an important trade focus and has been chosen as a regional center by international companies. According to the information we received from our Commercial Attaché, Turkish origin products are increasingly found in the country. Great developments have been made in the fields of plastics, cosmetics, cleaning and medical, and in addition, Turkey has become Kenya’s largest supplier of fertilizers. As a matter of fact, we see this in our export figures. When we look at the data for ten months this year, fertilizer comes first with 9.4 million dollars in chemical exports to Kenya. Plastics and its products come second with $8.4 million, followed by inorganic chemicals with $5.4 million. In this period, we see that the highest increase was in organic chemicals with 403.61%. Our total chemical exports to Kenya are 36.9 million dollars in the ten-month period. Therefore, we can say that there is still a long way to go here. We will carry out our chemical sectoral trade delegation to Vietnam-Thailand on 12-18 December 2022. I believe that such events we organize will contribute to our exporters expanding their markets and increasing their exports.” Obtained information about the Kenyan market In addition to bilateral business meetings, market visits were made and information was obtained about sales channels and price levels. While the representatives of the chemicals and paint industry visited Uchumi Chemicals and Basco paints companies, which are the largest companies in the country, the representatives of the cosmetics-cleaning-plastics industry visited the market. Within the scope of the four-day program, the Turkish Ambassador to Nairobi Subutay Yüksel was visited and the commercial relations between the two countries and the practices of doing business in the country were discussed. Pharmacies&Poisons Board, KEMSA (Kenya Medical Supplies Authority) and Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS) institutions were visited to obtain information on drug group licensing.
A professional writer by day, a tech-nerd by night, with a love for all things money.