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Business trips abroad;  Why travel ?….
6th November, 2006

Recently, I was involved in a seminar where business people were being prepared for an overseas business trip facilitated by one of the banks.  The participants were invited to talk about their reasons for traveling abroad.  I sat patiently listening to each of the ones who were willing to talk.  The reasons included:-
•       To simply  relax
o       To break for a holiday with my spouce
o       To look for sources of raw material
o       To look for sources of equipment
o       To visit existing car import sources
o       To see the world
Another group that had traveled in the past was also invited to talk about their achievements from the trips.  The answers included:-
o       I bought some stock for my shop
o       I bought new equipment for my hardware business
o       I bought state of the art printing equipment for my business
All the reasons and achievements brought out sounded fine.  I was however disappointed to note that nobody indicated having acquired export market opportunities during the previous trip. Nobody either reported to be on a mission to search for export opportunities during the current trip.  This is an unfortunate situation, I thought.  Kenyans should now change tactics and embrace export-oriented businesses.  The opportunities existing in this area are not exhaustive either through the regional or global markets.  It is the only way to go.  Singapore is one country which has developed through exports as may have been noted in the past.  Other Asian Tigers have also achieved their economic might through targeting export market. Meanwhile, the market for imports in Kenya continues to diminish with time.  There are too many importers targeting a small market whose purchasing power is sometimes hurt by economic trends.  It is unlikely that new  and even some old import oriented businesses can be sustained for long.  Regional and global market is the way for business today. It is the only one that can be sustainable for long. I doubt whether there is anybody who can disagree with this position.

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