Malaysian Businesses Urged To Tap Into Kenya’s Agriculture, Halal Industries -- Envoy

By Niam Seet Wei

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysian businesses are encouraged to explore investment opportunities in Kenya, especially in the agriculture sector, which requires smart farming techniques and industrialised know-how, as well as in the halal industry.

Malaysian High Commissioner to Kenya Ruzaimi Mohamad said the Kenyan government admires Malaysia’s successful transformation into an industrialised nation, while Kenya remains agriculture-oriented, despite both countries gaining independence from British colonisation around the same time.

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Malaysia achieved independence on Aug 31, 1957, while Kenya followed suit on Dec 12, 1963.

Ruzaimi said Kenya has been importing a significant amount of manufactured products from Malaysia, including electrical and electronics (E&E) items, machinery, and food products, while it exports coffee, tea, vegetables, flowers, and fruits like avocado to Malaysia.

“Generally, Kenya is considered a safe country. I would love to see more Malaysians come here to explore and invest in the agriculture sector.

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“The good thing about Kenya is that it has vast amount of land, and the labour cost is cheap. But the only problem here is that transportation costs are high,” he quipped while speaking to Malaysian reporters in Nairobi, Kenya, in conjunction with the arrival of AirAsia X Bhd’s (AAX) inaugural direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Nairobi recently.

As for the halal industry, Ruzaimi who assumed his role in Kenya since February 2023, said Malaysian businesses should explore Kenya’s market due to its large Muslim population which makes up about 11 per cent of the total population of around 56 million.

“Moreover, halal products would not only attract Muslims, but also non-Muslims as they know that if the products are halal, they are well-scrutinised,” he said.

Statistics shared by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation’s (MATRADE) Kenyan office showed that the bilateral trade between Malaysia and Kenya rose 1.70 per cent to US$1.20 billion (US$1= RM4.46) in 2023 from US$1.18 billion in 2022.

The two-way trade stood at US$765.5 million from January to September 2024.

“Malaysia’s major export items to Kenya are palm oil and petroleum products, while imports are metal ore/ scrap and agricultural products,” according to the statistics.

Ruzaimi believes that the introduction of AAX’s direct flights -- the only direct flight that connects Malaysia and the African region thus far -- coupled with a stronger purchasing power among the Kenyans post COVID-19, could lift the two-way trade between Malaysia and Kenya by 10 per cent.

He is also optimistic that the direct flights, which has shortened the travel time to nine hours from nearly 15 hours previously, could encourage more travellers and students to Malaysia, especially when the country hosts the ASEAN chairmanship in 2025.

He revealed that every year, around 1,000 new Kenyan students enrol in Malaysia’s tertiary education institutions, especially the private ones.

“Some of them also join the postgraduate or doctorate (PhD) programmes in the local universities,” he added.

Located in the eastern part of Africa, Kenya is 7,128 kilometres away from Malaysia. The country’s economy is largely driven by the agriculture sector, which contributed 21.8 per cent to the total gross domestic product (GDP) in 2023.

“Combined, service activities (including tourism) contributed 61.3 per cent to the GDP, while industry-related activities constituted 16.9 per cent of the GDP in 2023,” according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics’ 2024 Economic Survey report released in May this year.

-- BERNAMA