Indonesian President Joko Widodo is expected to jet into the country next month for a bilateral engagement with President William Ruto over the prospect of sealing another Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between the two countries.

The trade deal will seek to shore up market access through the slashing of tariff barriers and creation of a favourable business environment to reverse the drop in the volume of traded goods that the two countries witnessed in 2022.

Bilateral relations

Announcement of the forthcoming visit by the Indonesian President to Kenya was made during a meeting between Investments, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria and Luhut Pandjaitan, the Indonesian counterpart in charge of Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment in Jakarta.

They noted that the visit would further strengthen bilateral relations and open new avenues for cooperation across various sectors in the two countries.  During the meeting two ministers also discussed the need for increased collaboration between companies from both countries, with Kenya specifically targeting to boost the manufacturing of textiles and apparel for export markets.

The value of Kenya’s imports from Indonesia slumped by about 38.8 per cent to Sh27.13 billion in 2022, from the previous year’s Sh44.4 billion, according to the latest economic survey 2023. Though meagre, Kenya’s export to the opposite side increased to Sh1.14 billion in 2022.

Indonesia is targeting to diversify its shipment into Kenya from conventional palm oil, something that could give it a competitive edge with its Asian counterpart, China, whose mojo with Nairobi has been quite slow since the new administration came in.

Rendra Kusumawardana, the Economic Affairs Secretary at the Indonesia Embassy in Nairobi revealed last month that the Asian nation will seek to increase its product range to Kenya to include the food and beverage sector.– Herald Aloo