Kenya
on Tuesday signed seven trade agreements with South Korea towards improvement of health, education, energy, ICT and industrialization sectors.
One of the deals will see the Korea Export-Import Bank pump an initial Sh5 billion to support the agricultural sector towards food security.
President Kenyatta and President Park Geun-hye, who had earlier chaired a bilateral meeting, witnessed the signing of the bilateral pacts at State House, Nairobi.
The memorandum with the Korean Bank was signed for Kenya by Agriculture CS Willy Bett.
The agreements will boost the country’s efforts to become an economic, industrial and technological powerhouse in the region.
The MOUs were on cooperation in science and technology, e-Government, industry, trade and investment.
Others were on cooperation in health, innovation and higher education and electric power and nuclear energy development.
The deal on scientific and technological cooperation – signed by Education CS Fred Matiang’i and Korea’s Foreign Affairs minister Yun Byung-se – entails the sharing of policies and technologies in the fields of science and technology between the two countries.
It also involves implementing exchanges between research and development institutes in Kenya and South Korea.
Under this agreement, Kenya and South Korea will also exchange human resources through education and training programs.
It will also promote partnerships between Kenya and Korea on the development of smart city solutions.
The pact on cooperation in e-Government, signed by Foreign Affairs CS Amina Mohamed, will see Kenya and South Korea share best practices and technical exchanges to increase efficiency and effectiveness of government services for the benefit of the people of the two countries.
Industry, Trade and Cooperative CS Adan Mohamed and Korean Minister for Industry and Trade Joo Hyunghwan signed the MOU on cooperation in industry, trade, investment and industrial complex development.
The pact will see Kenya and South Korea work together in developing their textiles, food and leather processing and automobiles and electronics industries.
The two countries will also cooperate in developing industrial complexes and special economic zones.
The agreement on electric power and nuclear energy development was signed by Energy and Petroleum CS Charles Keter and Korean Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Joo Hyunghwan.
By signing this MOU, Kenya is set to benefit from Korea’s expertise in power generation.
Korea has a unique model of power development that has ensured stable supply of electricity through continuous constructions and safe operations of power plants.
Health CS Cleopa Mailu and Korean Health and Welfare Minister Chung Chinyoub inked the MOU on health that seeks to scale up the two countries’ cooperation in diagnosis and treatment of non-communicable diseases.
Kenya will also benefit from Korea’s support in screening and cryo-therapy for cervical cancer, diagnostics capacity building for imaging and nuclear medicine.
Education CS Fred Matiang’i and Konza Technopolis Development Authority CEO
John Tanui
signed an MOU with the
Export-Import Bank of Korea that supports
the on-going Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology Project.