Kenya is seeking to deepen its diplomatic relations with the South Asian country of Vietnam.
Defence Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya on Thursday held talks with Vietnam President Lương Cường in Hanoi and discussed various areas of collaboration.
CS Tuya, met President Cường as President William Ruto’s special envoy.
Tuya said they discussed subjects of mutual interest to Kenya and Vietnam in furtherance of the MoU on Diplomatic and Political Consultations.
The MoU was signed in Nairobi in February this year.
“The varied areas of potential cooperation between Kenya and Vietnam include, but not limited to defence, combating transnational organized crime, food security, education, and the deployment of technology in climate resilient green growth initiatives,” Tuya said in a statement.
Tuya is in Hanoi for the fourth Session of the Partnering for Green Growth and Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit.
On his part, President Cường said Vietnam values and wishes to deepen “the friendship and multifaceted cooperation” with Kenya.
He added that Tuya’s attendance of the conference shows Kenya’s strong commitment to development issues and contributes to the success of the summit.
On Wednesday, she held talks with Prime Minister Pham Min Chinh and discussed areas of cooperation to deepen bilateral diplomatic relations.
According to the Kenya Defence Forces, Kenya is particularly keen to partner with Vietnam in defence cooperation.
President Cường had suggested the two countries’ defence ministries explore collaboration in defence industry, logistics, military medicine, and share experience in participating in UN peacekeeping operations.
Other areas of cooperation are manufacturing, universal health coverage, affordable housing and food security, sectors that underpin the Asian country’s growing economy that attained an impressive 7.09 per cent growth last year.
“Also discussed was the need for concerted global efforts to tackle the growing challenge of transnational organised crimes as well as Vietnam’s support for Kenya’s desire to host the Global Plastics Treaty Secretariat at UNEP in Nairobi,” KDF said in a statement.
She also delivered a letter from President Ruto to PM Chính, expressing Kenya’s desire to further enhance its cooperation with Vietnam.
On multilateral collaboration, the President asked Kenya to act as a bridge to support Vietnam in strengthening relations with the AU and regional organisations of which Kenya is a member.
To facilitate connectivity and collaboration, the two sides agreed to explore establishing diplomatic missions in each other’s capital, and to negotiate and sign cooperation documents in such areas as trans-national crime prevention.
However, the CS did not indicate whether the case of Margaret Nduta, the Kenyan facing execution in Vietnam, was discussed.
