NAIROBI – Indonesia and Kenya have agreed on various areas of government-to-government and business to business following a meeting between the country’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan and President William Ruto at the State House Nairobi.
During the Thursday meeting, Coordinating Minister Luhut led a delegation of high-ranking officials from different Ministries and institutions and state-owned and private companies.
The visit, which serves as preparation for President Joko Widodo’s visit to Kenya in August, agreed on several matters within the G-to-G and B-2-B frameworks.
Among the agreements include state-owned oil and natural gas corporation Pertamina”s investment plans in the upstream oil and gas industry and the geothermal sector, plans for cooperation between Bio Farma and Kenya on vaccines and plans for the distribution cooperation of pharmaceutical company Combiphar with Kenyan local partners.
Other agreed areas of engagement are livestock imports, investment by Indonesian textile companies in Kenya, and cooperation in the oil palm sector.
“We believe that the many potentials, both in G-to-G and B-to-B, are significant in strengthening relations between our two countries,” Minister Luhut said.
He added that Kenya has a very strategic location as a vital commodity hub with high economic value to a broader market with more than 300 million people in countries around Kenya, such as Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and the DRC.
Regarding G-to-G, the governments of Kenya and Indonesia agreed on a Letter of Intent for cooperation in livestock and animal health. The visit also encouraged the completion of a bilateral defense cooperation document and to start Preferential Trade Agreement negotiations to promote trade relations between the two countries.
In addition to meeting with President Ruto, Coordinating Minister Luhut also met Investment and Trade CS Moses Kuria, Energy and Petroleum CS Davies Chirchir and Defence CS Aden Duale.
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