Kinanie Industrial Leather City will house Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), cabinet secretary for industrialization and enterprise development Adan Mohamed has said.
The city which will be based in Athi River, Machakos county, is part of Jubilee government’s plan to limit exportation of raw hides and skins to developed nations.
The CS who is in Turkey to woo investors in the leather industry has toured the OSTIM Industrial Region in Ankara Turkey and was quoted saying: “SMEs play a crucial role in Kenya’s development; and as such they have been allocated sufficient facilities so that the small businesses can support the growing needs for the sector, as well as create job opportunities.”
The OSTIM region in Turkey is one of the largest and most important small and medium-sized industrial production areas, and combines production flexibility with the advantages of a large machine park. OSTIM produces in 17 main sectors together with 5000 enterprises, spread over 5 million square meters and employs over 50,000 people. Key sectors include textiles, leather, urban furniture, machine equipment and automotives.
While noting the numerous challenges the sector faces in Kenya, the CS said, “We are aware that standards, capacity and market are major issues faced by the sector and the examples we will draw from world class regions such as OSTIM will go a long way in addressing historical issues that affect the Sector. He added, “work sites have been a problem in the past and the integrated park will address this problem initially for the Leather Sector SMEs”.
Last year, the Kenyan government signed an MOU with the SMEs of Turkey to support growth of the sector during President Kenyatta’s visit. The ministry of industrialization announced this month the launch of the leather industrial city that is slated for ground breaking next month.
