The Egyptian business community is keen to invest in Kenya's manufacturing sector to boost the industrialization agenda of the east African nation, a government official said on Wednesday.

Khaled el Abyad, Egyptian Ambassador to Kenya said in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, that bilateral investment and trade partnerships need to extend beyond the traditional agricultural products.

"Egyptian companies are exploring opportunities such as joint ventures, technology, and skill transfer programs with their Kenyan counterparts, especially in the area of manufacturing," Abyad said during the Egypt-Kenya business bridge forum.

An Egyptian trade delegation of 30 companies is on a two-day visit to Kenya to engage in bilateral meetings with their Kenyan counterparts. The delegation includes companies from building materials, iron and steel, cement, glass marble sanitary ware, and chemicals sectors.

Sylvia Kaburu, Deputy Director of International Trade at Kenya's Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry, said that the government can develop a competitive manufacturing sector through partnerships with foreign industrialists.

Kaburu noted that Egypt is Kenya's second important source market for imports in Africa after South Africa and the third largest buyer of Kenya's goods after Uganda and Tanzania.