Exporting to Kenya and Vietnam:
Kenya is the largest economy in East Africa making her a regional transportation and financial hub. The growth of the country originates from the fact that Kenya has promoted rapid economic growth since independence. Kenya has promoted economic growth through various initiatives such as public investment, incentives for private industrial investments that are often foreign investments, and the encouragement of small-scale agricultural production ("Kenya: Economy," 2011). In contrast, Vietnam was considered as one of the fastest-growing economies worldwide from 1990-1997 and 1998-2003. The economic growth of the company can be partly attributed to the significant foreign trade and foreign direct investment over time since the authorization of foreign investment in 1988. The country was transformed into the second-largest exporter of rice from a net food importer between 1990 and 2005. While the country still runs a structural trade deficit that was approximately $12.4 billion in 2010, its exports were around $71.6 billion and imports $84 billion.
Current Import Policies, Tariffs, and Restrictions in the Two Countries:
This tariff consists of three tariff bands i.e. 25% for finished products, 10% for processed or manufactured inputs, and zero-duty for raw materials and inputs. Kenya also has a list of sensitive items with rates above 25% and comprising 58 tariff lines such as popcorn, milk and milk products, wheat, corn, rice, and wheat flour. Based on reports by the World Trade Organization, the average applied tariff rate in Kenya by 2008 was 12.6% ("Kenya," 2010). In the past few years, the Kenyan government allowed duty-free importation of white maize because of increased concerns about food security.
The current import policies in Kenya also require Kenyan importers to pay an import declaration fee of 2.25% of the customs value of imports. Moreover, these importers need to have pre-export verification of conformity, international standard mark, valid invoices from exporting company, and a certificate of conformity. The back-log of investment-related cases in Kenya's judicial system is a major obstacle to investment since it makes financial institutions…
