A joint declaration on talks leading to the signing of a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CEPA) with the United Arab Emirates was signed today by the Kenyan government.
Industrialisation, Trade, and Enterprise Development, Cabinet Secretary Betty Maina, and H.E. Thani Bin Ahmad Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates, both assured the public and media at large that the two nations will continue to prosper with their current cooperation.
“We hereby announce the launch of negotiations for the United Arab Emirates-Kenya Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (UAEK-CEPA) with understanding that the UAEK-CEPA should be mutually beneficial and comprehensive, covering trade in goods and services, investment, economic cooperation, and other areas to be agreed upon so as to reach the economic goals set by the two governments through substantially increasing the volume of bilateral trade and investment.”
“UAEK-CEPA shall be economically meaningful while reorganising specific interests, concerns, and sensitivities the two countries may have,” CS Maina said.
This follows the remarks by CS Maina that the recent Agreement on Joint Economic and Technical Cooperation (JETC), signed on March 1, 2022, is the foundation for the two parties’ ongoing relations in trade, investment, and economic cooperation.
This was done in an effort to deepen and strengthen their bilateral economic and commercial ties.
A successful negotiating process toward signature will be overseen by two ministers who are committed to seeing to it that CEPA is implemented even in the case of administration or government changes, in accordance with each party’s domestic treaty-making process.
Speaking to the media, the CS said the relationship’s goal is to foster conditions that will increase two-way trade and investment while maximising potential of the two nations’ economic ties while reassuring commitment to their respective regional trade blocs, such as the East African Community (EAC) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and the various protocols.
Both nations concur that once CEPA is complete, it will allow other partner governments in the EAC and GCC to join in.
The parties acknowledged the necessity of starting CEPA negotiations in order to advance bilateral, economic, and technological cooperation between the two nations.
