Wednesday 21st May, the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI), led by Executive Director Lucy Muchoki and National Director Ken Onditi, held a productive meeting with a delegation from the Shandong Provincial Development and Reform Commission of China led by the Chief director, Sun Ajin. The engagement focused on deepening bilateral cooperation and exploring strategic partnerships in key economic sectors.
The KNCCI team highlighted Kenya’s priority areas for investment and collaboration, including affordable housing, roads and infrastructure, manufacturing (with a focus on leather, essential oils, agro-processing, and the blue economy), education (school infrastructure), energy, and agriculture.
Kenya is particularly keen to attract Shandong investors to set up manufacturing facilities in Export Processing Zones (EPZs), Special Economic Zones (SEZs), and County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPs), with KNCCI committing to offer full support in facilitating the partnerships and investment processes.
The Shandong delegation expressed a strong interest in enhancing cooperation with Kenya, noting that Shandong is one of China’s largest manufacturing provinces with extensive experience in industrial development. They are looking to source raw materials from Kenya to support their manufacturing sector and expressed interest in building long-term supply chain relationships.
Additionally, they proposed organizing a trade mission from Kenya to Shandong to explore further trade and investment opportunities and announced plans to bring a business delegation to Kenya to identify potential partnerships. The Shandong team also expressed enthusiasm about increasing avocado imports from Kenya, citing rising consumer demand, and highlighted energy and mining as sectors where their province holds significant global expertise.
Both sides agreed to initiate planning for a Kenya–Shandong Business Forum and follow-up sectoral roundtables to align investor interests with Kenyan opportunities.