Kenya Special Economic Zone Welcomes Transfer Of Chinese Clothing Enterprises

In recent years, many African countries, such as Kenya, have attracted the attention of many transnational textile and garment industries due to their low labor force and land prices. The highest level of development in East Africa, the minimum wage standard of about $177 a month, the highest level of labor productivity in Africa, the government's establishment of the Textile City, and the welcome of foreign companies to invest. Kenya Gained the favor of foreign enterprises.

A "Kenya wealth 2014" report shows that Armani, Burberry, Gucci, Zegna, Boss and other high-end fashion brands are most likely to open stores in Kenya in the next 10 years. The South African retail chain supermarkets Foschini and Edgars will open stores in Nairobi's Garden City shopping center by the end of this year. In addition, Nairobi, capital of Kenya, will also host an international clothing exhibition from Africa this year. The textile and garment industry of the country hopes to undertake industrial transfer from China and other places and obtain more processing orders from multinational garment enterprises. Therefore, many international enterprises began to consider transferring their orders to Africa, including some Chinese textile enterprises.

　　 Build special economic zones: welcome investment in textile industry such as China

The government of Kenya is stepping up efforts to build three industries including garment manufacturing. Special Economic Zone (SEZs) the special economic zone is located in three areas near Kisumu (Kisumu), Mombasa (Mombasa) and Rahm (Lamu) in Kenya, covering an area of about 2000 sq km. At that time, nearly 10 million jobs are expected to be created in the next 30 years. At the same time, the Kenya parliament will adopt a legislative bill on special economic zones in the near future. The government will set up a tax exemption period for land and tax concessions, allowing enterprises to import products tax-free, and so on, so as to help enterprises develop manufacturing activities in special economic zones. The special economic zone will mainly focus on industrial activities, especially manufacturing and production of textiles and clothing. Enterprises carrying out processing activities in special economic zones will enjoy a lower tax rate. Compared with those outside the special economic zones, the regulatory obstacles faced by enterprises in the special economic zones will also be greatly reduced.

Adan Mohamed, the cabinet minister of Kenya's Ministry of industrial development, said that the new special economic zone will be built in two to three years. The special zone will mainly focus on foreign textile and garment enterprises, especially textile and garment enterprises from China, Vietnam and South Africa, Adan Mohamed. At present, there is a free trade area in Kenya and some export processing zones (EPZs) in Mombasa, but there are no special economic zones. In 2012, nearly 30% of the export processing zones were garment factories, accounting for 56% of the total export processing area, accounting for 30% of the private investment of export processing zones. According to the 2013 Kenya economic survey report, in the first three quarters of 2013, the clothing industry in Kenya grew by more than 4% over the same period last year. The establishment of special economic zones by the government is expected to promote the development of Kenya's manufacturing industry. By 2030, the manufacturing sector will account for 20% of the gross domestic product of the country, so as to achieve the goal of becoming a middle-income country.

　 Investing in Textile City: an effective way to expand African influence

In recent years, many Chinese textile enterprises have also cast their eyes on Kenya, such as China Hongkong Li Feng Group. The group is the world's leading multinational consumer goods purchasing, logistics and distribution group, and is currently considering export processing zones in Athi River, Kenya. Investment Textile industry. In July this year, representatives of Li Feng group visited Kenya and met with Adan Mohamed, Secretary General of the Ministry of Commerce and industry development of Kenya, hoping to excavate business opportunities in Kenya through the visit. Adan Mohamed said that the garment manufacturing industry can create jobs in the short term and help Kenya solve the unemployment problem faced by the country. The Ministry of industry and commerce is developing every effort to develop Kenya's textile industry, hoping to build the textile city in the export processing area of the Ashe town to solve the industrialization problem faced by the current processing area. Li Feng Group specializes in multiple commodity supply chain management, including clothing and many world brand products. Adan Mohamed said that the company's investment in the Kenya market will help to further expand its influence in Africa. It is understood that the Ministry of industrialization and enterprise development of Kenya is organizing the establishment of the textile city. After the construction of the Textile City, it can provide land leasing to foreign companies for cotton gin, spinning, and production of fabrics, household textiles, clothing, clothing accessories and so on. It is estimated that at least 100 textile enterprises will invest in the textile city. By the end of 2016, it is expected to create about 200 thousand new jobs. Textile City is part of the "national industrialization development line" recently implemented by the Kenya government, aiming at promoting the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country to increase 350 billion to 5200 billion shillings a year in the next 16 years.

In addition, Jiangsu Lian FA Textile Co., Ltd. also plans to set up a textile mill in Neva, Kenya. Kenya radio said the company expects to invest 4 billion shillings to invest in the construction of a textile factory, which will generate about 150 million dollars a year and will create about 3 jobs in the region. Adan Mohamed said that with the increasing cooperation between China and Kenya, the project launched by the United Nations Group will promote the revitalization of the textile industry in Kenya and promote the economic development of the company. He said that at present, the main problem that hinders the development of Kenya's textile industry is that the cost of electricity production is too high. The planned textile factories will be effective in pushing Kenya's textile industry back to the right track.

　 Brand is not "lonely": consumers expect to buy high-end fashion.

Spain's clothing brand ZARA, the British shoe brand Clarks, Armani, Burberry, Gucci and so on, many international famous brands or have the intention to enter Kenya in the next few years, or already cooperate with Kenya local merchants to sell goods, because in recent years, Kenya's rapid economic development, more and more middle income people, and the purchasing power of these people is also strong, their market demand for high-end brand clothing shows explosive growth.

In addition, there are many UNEP staff in the United Nations and other parts of the United Nations and foreign investors in Kenya. This has also become one of the factors that push international brands to enter Kenya. More and more people in Kenya contact and gradually understand many international brands during their travels or through modern media such as the Internet. Kenya consumers are eager to buy more fashionable and exquisite products. Their demand for designer brands and clothing are becoming more and more sophisticated. Many international fashion brands are taking advantage of this opportunity to pour into Nairobi, Kenya, in order to get a share in this booming market. Last June, Spain's fast fashion brand ZARA signed a distribution agreement with Kenya clothing chain corporation Deacons. At the same time, Deacons also undertook the distribution business of Italy Asia high-end clothing brand Massimo Dutti. Kemaya Africa is a fashion company in Kenya, which runs high-end women's clothing. The manager of the company said that the average price of the clothing sold in Kemaya Africa reached 40000 shillings. The main target customers of these clothes were women who were chasing fashion. They were eager to wear the fashion that combines international fashion style with Kenya local style.