NAIROBI, March 18 (Xinhua -- Sales from Kenya's export processing zones hit 90 billion shillings (787 million U.S. dollars) in 2021, up from 700 million dollars in 2020, a government official said on Friday.
The jump in sales was due to rising demand from key export markets, said Benjamin Chesang, manager of research at the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA), in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
"The loosening of the travel restrictions as countries gradually recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, translated into more exports from Kenya," Chesang told a high-level policy dialogue on fostering productive capacities in Kenya.
He said the United States was the largest market for the export processing zones as Kenyan goods have preferential access under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) program.
According to the EPZA, textiles and apparel accounted for the bulk of Kenya's exports.
Other products sold overseas included leather products, flowers, macadamia nuts, pharmaceutical products as well as gemstones, Chesang said.
He said most of the investors in the export-oriented industries were from Asia. ■