NAIROBI – Kenya and Romania on Tuesday signed four bilateral MoUs during President Klaus Iohannis’s state visit.
The MoUs include cooperation in environmental protection and climate change; cooperation in sanitary, veterinary and food safety to encourage trade of food products in accordance with respective national legislation; agricultural research and cooperation between Romania’s Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences and Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization.
The two states also signed an MoU between Romanian Diplomatic Institute and Kenya’s Foreign Academy.
Speaking a the joint press briefing, President William Ruto spoke of the potential in the relations between the two states and the need to escalate the ties in political, social, cultural and diplomatic domains.
Among the issues the two leaders discussed, President Ruto said, include trade and investment, environmental conservation and climate action, political and diplomatic dialogue, cooperation in ICT and agriculture as well as the people-to-people engagements.
In trying to improve the poor trade numbers, President Ruto said they discussed strategies and interventions to enhance trade and investments between the two states, as well as new opportunities to improve balance of trade.
Romania exports to Kenya were only $16.7 million in 2022, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade, while Kenya exported goods worth $20.95 million.
Romania imports from Kenya include coffee, tea, mate and spices, as well as horticultural produce, while exports are cereals, machinery and nuclear reactors, as well as textile.
Ruto thanked Iohannis for Romania’s support in the Economic Partnership Agreement between Kenya and the EU, which will be signed in Nairobi on December 17 in Nairobi.
“I am confident that the implementation of these agreements will escalate the relations into an effective partnership into areas of focus and create conditions for Kenya and Romania to expand the scope of collaboration to cover even more sectors,” President Ruto said.
On his part, President Iohannis said he had with President Ruto agreed to develop further the 55-yearlong bilateral friendship.
” We will take efficient action to put projects of mutual interest into motion, at EU and bilateral level. Key areas are trade, industry, agriculture, ICT, including cybersecurity, education, and development.
” I congratulate President Ruto on his strong leadership on climate action. Romania???? is eager to work with Kenya on fighting climate change, expanding access to environmental education, creating skills for green transition, and cooperation on emergency situations,” the visiting president said.
President Iohannis is visiting Kenya, Tanzania, Cabo Verde, and Senegal between November 14-23.
The trip, the first political-diplomatic approach at this level in the last 30 years, is aimed at relaunching Romania’s relations with Africa directly and as part of the joint effort at the European level.
“These visits aim at relaunching the high-level political dialogue with the mentioned states and revitalizing economic and sectoral relations, aiming to open and capitalize on new opportunities for collaboration in areas of common interest, including those regarding the management of global challenges,” the Romania Presidential Administration said.
