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{
    "id": 187613,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/187613/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 12,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kosgey",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Industrialization",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 177,
        "legal_name": "Henry Kiprono Kosgey",
        "slug": "henry-kosgey"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, I beg to reply. (a) I am not aware of the imminent closure of Premier Bag and Cordage Company Limited situated in Juja Constituency. The company manufactures sisal twine, ropes, sisal bags and carpets on a very small scale. It has also diversified into jute bags and plastics. Currently, the company is operating at 30 per cent of its installed capacity, mainly due to:- (i) Very old machinery in use at the factory. There is need to upgrade that machinery and embrace modern technology, (ii) High cost of production arising from the escalating power tariffs and stiff competition from cheap imported jute bags. (iii) Local sisal producers who are predominantly inclined to exporting their raw materials which earn them higher returns than supplies to local manufacturers. 2130 (iv) Suppliers' demand for upfront payment leading to reduction in the company's cashflows. (v) Inadequate supplies of the required grades of sisal causing the company to operate below capacity. (vi) Consumers' preferences for imported cheap jute bags to locally produced sisal bags. (vii) Lack of aggressive marketing strategy for their products. (b) My Ministry does not allow importation of cheap jute bags from Bangladesh or any other part of the world into the country. What is happening in the sisal market, just like in any other market, is that the law of supply and demand is at play in this highly liberalised economy. There is a duty on imported jute bags, which is, at the moment, 61 per cent. It should be a deterrent measure to make sure that, at least, the local industry is able to compete with importers. The Premier Bag and Cordage Limited must, therefore, address itself to modern ways of doing business by embracing new technology and seeking ways of growing own preferred sisal grades, or by winning supplier/consumer confidence by paying premium for quality raw materials and aggressive marketing of their finished products towards long-term sustainability of the company. (c) Given the answer to \"b\" above, the Ministry has no mandate, whatsoever, to issue a directive to any person or firm that is transacting business legally, to stop trading. The Ministry can only protect industries through ensuring that acceptable standards are maintained through its agency, the Kenya Bureau of Standards, working in collaboration with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Trade, specifically the Department of Weights and Measures."
}