UAE, Kenya Explore Prospects Of Enhancing Economic Cooperation

DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 12th Sep, 2021) Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, Minister of State for Entrepreneurship and SMEs, and Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, held a meeting at the Ministry’s headquarters in Dubai with Betty Maina, Cabinet Secretary of Kenya's Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and Enterprise Development.

The meeting explored the prospects of economic and investment cooperation between their countries and ways to enhance their relations, resulting in a number of plans to strengthen UAE-Kenya economic ties that serve to facilitate new partnerships between the business communities in both countries.

The sides discussed boosting efforts to sign an economic, trade and technical cooperation agreement between their governments and forming a joint economic committee to facilitate the formulation of action plans and frameworks for cooperation and exchanging expertise in the coming years, with a special focus on agriculture, food production, processing industries, infrastructure, technology, digitisation and renewable energy.

UAE-Kenya trade relations saw considerable growth in the past period with non-oil trade valued at around AED 7 billion in 2020, indicating the growing cooperation between the two countries.

Dr. Al Falasi said, "We are collaborating with Kenya to develop a more efficient approach to create new opportunities across the entrepreneurship and SMEs sector, to drive its growth and enable it to expand into international markets.

We call on all UAE- and Kenya-based companies to leverage these opportunities and incentives to advance our bilateral economic relations."

For his part, the UAE's Minister of State for Foreign Trade explained the UAE's investments in Kenya cover vital sectors, such as IT, logistics, retail, leisure, healthcare and mining, at a value of AED 11 billion, while Kenyan investments in the UAE totalled AED 291 million.

Dr. Al Zeyoudi said invited entrepreneurs and investors to participate in Expo 2020 Dubai, and showcased the UAE's ambitious Fifty Economy Plan, which aims to double the UAE's GDP by 2030.

Maina underscored the strong trade relations between her country and the UAE, and the growth opportunities they entail, highlighting the Kenyan government's keenness to collaborate with the UAE to explore new avenues to expand their cooperation.

We are looking forward to ensure a fruitful participation in Expo 2020 Dubai, and strengthen our ties with the UAE through programmes and plans across the trade, tourism, entrepreneurship, innovation, food security and industrial sectors, she explained, noting that their plans to develop a framework to establish a Kenyan-Emirati business council and enhance collaborations between their chambers of commerce.