NAIROBI, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan manufacturers on Tuesday launched the Manufacturing Priority Agenda (MPA) 2019 that seeks to guide the country to revamp its industrial sector, officials said on Tuesday.

Phyllis Wakiaga, chief executive officer of Kenya Manufacturer Association (KAM) told journalists in Nairobi that the manufacturing sector's contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) has averaged at 10 percent between 2008 to 2014 but has been on a declining trend contributing 8.4 percent to GDP in 2017.

Wakiaga said the country seeks to develop the sector and see it contribute 15 percent to the GDP by 2022 under President Uhuru Kenyatta's Big 4 Agenda.

Wakiaga said that the MPA consists of five pillars including competitiveness and level playing field; enhanced market access; pro-industry policy and institutional framework; government driven SME development; and securing the future of manufacturing industry.

Wakiaga noted that Kenya's manufacturing sector is not regionally or globally competitive due to a myriad of factors, such as the high coast of electricity.

Betty Maina, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives said that Kenya is prioritizing industrialization because no country has ever achieved high income status without having a robust manufacturing sector.

She added that the government has over the past ten years focused on infrastructure development that will make Kenya into a low cost producer of industrial goods.

Maina noted that Kenya is keen to attract export oriented manufacturers who will help the country increase its share of global trade. Enditem

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