President Uhuru Kenyatta receives the Sri Lanka's President Mahinda
Rajapaksa on his arrival at JKI Airport to join Kenyans celebrate 50
years of independence on 11th December 2013. The duo signed agreements
to strengthen economic ties. Photo/PSCU
The push to increase bilateral trade
between Kenya and Sri Lanka went a notch higher over the weekend with
the presidents of the two countries signing agreements to strengthen
economic ties.
President Kenyatta hosted his
counterpart from Sri Lanka, Mr Mahinda Rajapaksa, to a meeting at State
House that resulted in the signing of several accords that will see the
two countries open up their economies for increased trade.
A
statement from State House said the two heads of state agreed to
increase economic, commercial and technical cooperation and engage more
on tourism, culture and sports.
“They further agreed
to enhance cooperation in the development of production and processing
capacity in agriculture particularly with regard to coconut processing,
promoting people-to-people contacts, governance and institutional
reforms, partnerships in minerals processing, hospitality, textiles
development and financial services,” the statement read.
They
also signed a memorandum of understanding on visa exemption for holders
of diplomatic and official passports. The new agreements come just a
month after Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed visited Sri
Lanka with officials of the International Trade Kenya.
Primary point of contact
During
the meeting, the Kenya-Sri Lanka Joint Commission for Cooperation was
established to be the point of contact for advancing, monitoring and
evaluating bilateral ties between the two countries.
They
also instructed the relevant institutions to initiate consultations
leading to the conclusion of agreements on investment promotion and
protection and avoidance of double taxation.
“The two
leaders agreed to launch focused initiatives in the areas of shipping
and port connectivity, the sustainable management and extraction of
ocean-based resources and ensuring security of sea lanes particularly
from the threat of piracy,” the statement said.
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