[ti:Renewal of US Trade Deal Important to Kenya] [ar:Christopher Jones-Cruise] [al:Economics Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]The Bloomberg news service recently published [00:03.36]a list of the 20 fastest-growing economies. [00:06.91]Bloomberg rated a total of 57 countries. [00:11.06]China received the top rating, [00:14.20]with the Philippines in second place. [00:17.13]Kenya and Nigeria were the only African countries on the list. [00:23.38]Unemployment in Kenya remains high. [00:27.16]And some industries in the East African nation [00:31.44]may be hurt if the United States fails to extend a trade agreement. [00:36.86]That is the sound of an industrial sewing machine [00:44.68]at a textiles factory near the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. [00:48.82]The factory belongs to United Aryan Limited. [00:53.55]The company was formed 13 years ago. [00:57.42]It employs about 10,000 people. [01:01.42]Workers earn an average of $150 in wages a month. [01:07.68]United Aryan Limited exports most of the goods it makes. [01:13.17]Each month, it sends products worth $100 million [01:18.96]to buyers in the United States. [01:21.54]The company has grown partly [01:25.65]because of the African Growth and Opportunity Act. [01:29.70]The United States Congress approved the act [01:33.36]to permit imports of some products from Africa [01:37.14]without the payment of duties or taxes. [01:40.58]The U.S. trade program is set to end in September. [01:44.88]Pankaj Bedi is the chairman of United Aryan Limited. [01:50.44]He says his company would be severely hurt [01:54.23]if the program is not extended. [01:56.67]"It will be disaster. [01:58.79]We all have been lobbying, pushing, doing whatever we can. [02:04.94]In fact government now is very proactive, [02:06.72]even the Kenyan government has been, you know, following through. [02:10.56]If it is not there then we are not there. [02:13.44]Simple. We'll lose all the jobs; [02:16.97]there will be social, security all kind of disasters happening." [02:23.17]Bloomberg predicts Kenya's economy will grow six percent this year. [02:28.48]If it does, it would join China, India, [02:33.55]the Philippines and Indonesia as the only economies [02:38.37]with a growth rate of five percent or more. [02:41.56]But unemployment in Kenya remains high, [02:45.54]and 40 percent of Kenyans are very poor. [02:49.50]In Kenya, political unrest, [02:53.15]water shortages and terrorist attacks [02:56.49]have all slowed efforts to help the country's economy. [03:00.78]If the trade agreement is not renewed, many Kenyans would suffer. [03:06.00]Aly Khan Satchu is a financial expert. [03:09.64]He says the trade agreement is very important to Kenya's economy. [03:14.95]"There's been an explosion in what is called the EPZ -- [03:18.88]Export Processing Zones -- [03:20.45]where the government has assisted companies [03:24.65]who are predominantly exporting textiles. [03:27.57](It's been) pretty major and has had a dynamic, [03:31.25]positive economic impact in Kenya." [03:34.44]I'm Christopher Jones-Cruise. [03:37.03]¸ü¶àÌýÁ¦Çë·ÃÎÊ51voa.com