Kenyan president sees ‘enormous potential’ for trade ties with Pakistan

FM Qureshi says Pakistan, Kenya working on direct flights to open up trade opportunities

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan-Africa Trade Development Conference, jointly organised by the ministries of foreign affairs and commerce and textile in the Kenyan capital Nairobi over the weekend, concluded with identifying a number of sectors for joint cooperation.

The two-day conference was inaugurated by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday, which was attended by business delegations from Pakistan besides more than 600 participants from 21 African countries.

To attend the conference, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi visited Nairobi on January 29 and 30, the Foreign Office said on Saturday. Qureshi co-led the Pakistan delegations along with Prime Minister’s Adviser on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood.

Kenya is the largest trading partner of Pakistan in Africa. The conference provided “highly successful” B2B [business to business] and G2G [government to government] sessions,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

Inaugurating the event, the Kenyan president lauded Pakistan’s initiative of hosting the conference and called upon the Kenyans and other African nations to avail of this “tremendous opportunity to engage commercially and economically” with Pakistan.

Confident this conference will enable us to build trust and goodwill, generate awareness about each other’s strengths and move forward on customized economic collaboration that can lay the groundwork for strong Pakistan – Africa partnerships. #EngageAfrica #VisionFO. https://t.co/8XMDifnjBL pic.twitter.com/QueeXE7JRP

— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) January 30, 2020

“The potential for development of trade and economic ties between Pakistan and Africa is enormous. President Kenyatta, was quoted by the Foreign Office statement as saying. He also announced that he would visit Pakistan soon.

In his remarks at the inaugural session, Qureshi highlighted Pakistan’s “Engage Africa” policy, stating that it was a conscious decision of the government of Pakistan to move in this direction, the statement said.

According to the statement, Qureshi described Kenya as a “gateway to Africa”.

He affirmed that Pakistan and Kenya, and Africa at large, needed to enhance mutual collaboration to strengthen South-South cooperation.

During his visit, Qureshi also held separate meetings with Kenya’s cabinet secretary for east Africa community and regional development; cabinet secretary for industry, trade and cooperatives; and cabinet secretary for foreign affairs.

In the meetings, Qureshi characterised the bilateral relations as excellent, and underlined the need for translating these cordial ties into high-level of economic interaction. He praised Kenya’s “Big 4 agenda”, saying that it was similar to Pakistan’s development agenda.

The foreign minister identified a number of sectors that would further strengthen the relations between the two countries, including sister-ports city agreement; air connectivity; and joint shipping line.

In his meeting with Foreign Secretary Rachel Omama, Qureshi exchanged views on myriad facets of Pakistan-Kenya relations. The two sides agreed to work towards taking the relationship to a new level.

The Kenyan cabinet secretaries affirmed the potential for enhancing trade and economic relations between the two countries. During the meeting with Omama, an MoU on cooperation between the foreign service academies of Pakistan and Kenya was signed.

Qureshi also visited the United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON) and met UNON Director General Zainab Hawa Bangura, Executive Director of UN Habitat Mamounnah Mohammad, and Executive Director of UNEP Inger Anderson.

He apprised the UN officials of the latest human rights situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir where abuse and torture have touched heights never seen before, while an inhuman lockdown and information blackout continued for nearly six months.

Direct flights to improve trade ties

Meanwhile, in an interview with Nairobi-based Star newspaper, Qureshi said both the countries were working on direct flights among other measures to open up trade opportunities.

“I have come with an invitation for President Uhuru Kenyatta to come to Pakistan with his delegation so that we start plans for direct flights, port linkages among other incentives to boost trade between the two countries,” Qureshi said.

He indicated that Pakistan would soon reciprocate Kenya’s good will to issue on-arrival visas to the Kenyans. The report said that the two countries were negotiating a linkage between the Port of Mombasa and Karachi that reduce the docking to less than 14 days.

“This is expected to help businesses cut on time wastage and reduce export/import costs,” the report said, adding that currently a cargo ship takes almost 20 days to dock in Mombasa or Karachi.

Pakistan has been a top export market for Kenya, buying at least 40% of Kenya’s tea. Currently, Pakistan is the fourth-leading destination for Kenya’s goods after Uganda, Tanzania and Britain.

The two countries have several trade treaties, easing the burden especially on food imports. Eighty per cent of rice imported into Kenya comes from Pakistan.

The country also sells pharmaceuticals, surgical equipment, textiles, farm machinery and sports goods to Kenya.

The foreign minister’s visit to Kenya is part of concrete steps being taken to realise the prime minister’s vision of forging closer political and economic ties with the African continent and placing a stronger accent on economic diplomacy, the foreign office statement said.

(With additional input from News Desk)