{"id":23054,"date":"2024-12-23T12:28:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T12:28:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/?p=23054"},"modified":"2024-12-23T12:28:33","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T12:28:33","slug":"pakistan-and-kenya-strengthen-trade-ties-a-gateway-to-east-africa-and-central-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/?p=23054","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPakistan and Kenya Strengthen Trade Ties: A Gateway to East Africa and Central Asia\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Islamabad: Federal Minister for Commerce, Jam Kamal Khan, and the Kenyan High Commissioner met to explore new horizons in trade and regional cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussions centered on leveraging Pakistan\u2019s strategic location to serve as a gateway between Central Asia and the East African Community (EAC), with both sides expressing a strong commitment to deepening economic ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister conveyed greetings for the Kenyan President and reiterated Pakistan\u2019s commitment to deepening ties with Kenya and the broader East African Community (EAC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlighting Pakistan\u2019s strategic location, he underscored its potential role as a bridge for trade between CARs and East Africa, paving the way for mutually beneficial trilateral relations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussions during the meeting covered key trade sectors, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals, and commodities. The minister emphasized that Pakistan, as one of the largest importers of Kenyan tea, sees tremendous scope to diversify trade into other unique African products such as coffee, pineapples, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Kenya was invited to explore opportunities in Himalayan pink salt, marble, and cement exports from Pakistan.
Pharmaceuticals also emerged as a growing sector for bilateral trade. With banking channels already well-established between the two countries, the minister highlighted the importance of expediting the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the East African bloc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The High Commissioner requested swift progress on the MoU, which is currently under review by Pakistan\u2019s law division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minister Jam Kamal proposed hosting an East African-specific trade conference in Pakistan, highlighting the country\u2019s keen interest in the East African bloc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He suggested including CARs in such initiatives to facilitate a comprehensive dialogue and create stronger trade corridors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister also pointed to Pakistan\u2019s thriving industries, such as surgical instruments and sports goods, and recommended the High Commissioner visit Sialkot and Gujranwala\u2014key industrial hubs known for exports and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister also highlighted the potential for Pakistani private companies in the power transmission sector and recommended the High Commissioner meet Pakistan\u2019s Minister for Power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Kenyan High Commissioner expressed appreciation for Pakistan\u2019s proactive approach, stating, \u201cYou opened the door before we knocked.\u201d He emphasized the architectural similarities between Kenya and Pakistan, which are gaining popularity, and appreciated recent developments such as tractor exports from Pakistan to Kenya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The meeting concluded with a mutual commitment to strengthen trade relations, enhance cooperation, and work expeditiously on formalizing trade agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both sides expressed optimism about the future, with plans to coordinate visits and explore further opportunities across key industries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Islamabad: Federal Minister for Commerce, Jam Kamal Khan, and the Kenyan High Commissioner met to explore new horizons in trade and regional cooperation. The discussions centered on leveraging Pakistan\u2019s strategic… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":23055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,13],"tags":[2190,2193,2192,231,2191],"class_list":["post-23054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diplomacy-corner","category-main-stories","tag-african-countries","tag-ambassador-of-kenya-to-pakistan","tag-kenya-embassy-pakistan","tag-ministry-of-commerce-pakistan","tag-trade-and-investment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23056,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23054\/revisions\/23056"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theasiantelegraph.global\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}