The KENYA Bureau of Standards has been given firm instructions to ensure that imported plastic and synthetic products are not labelled and priced as genuine leather. Isaac Ruto, vocational training minister, said: ‘Kenya is no longer a supermarket for exploitation by other countries.’ The minister challenged local manufacturers to compete internationally without expecting government protection.
‘Efficiency is the guarantee to our survival in international trade’, he said. Ruto appealed to councils to support hawkers whom he described as a ‘vital part of the informal sector’. The minister pointed out that the informal sector employs 4.2 million people or 70% of total employment and generates 18.4% of GDP.
