Kenya’s ports of Mombasa and Lamu are set to sign twinning agreements with their Greek counterpart ports of Piraeus and Alexandroupolis.
This will see the ports establish ties of cooperation in shipping and bulk cargo haulage.
Chief Administrative Secretary Foreign Affairs Ababu Namwamba on Thursday said the twinning agreements will ease the way for Kenyan as well as East and Central African products.
This he said includes flowers, fruits and vegetables to use Greece as a launch pad to access the Balkan and southern European markets through, among others, the lucrative historical Silk Road belt.
Namwamba was speaking in Athens, Greece where he held talks with the port’s top management led by Vice Presidents of Piraeus Port Authority Angelos Karakostas and Captain Weng Lin.
“This will cut distance and costs and pave the way to collaborate in key issues such as technology sharing, maritime security and weather patterns monitoring,” he said.
He added, “This cooperation would benefit economies of both countries and regions and also enable Kenya to raise its stake in the highly profitable cruise ship tourism considering that Greece receives 35 million tourists a year”.
The CAS is on official visit to Greece on the invitation of the Greek government.
Discussions centered on conclusion and signing of significant MOUs, including cooperation in tourism, agriculture, sports, culture, diplomatic training and twining of the Ports of Mombasa and Lamu and Piraeus and Alexandroupolis.
Air traffic between Nairobi and Athens and cooperation in the war against terrorism and violent extremism also featured prominently.
He said they had agreed that Kenya-Greece Joint Ministerial Committee be established by June to accelerate the framework of cooperation between our two countries.
According to Namwamba, Greece has agreed to support Kenya’s newly established coast guard through training, technical assistance and other capacity building.
“Kenya is also poised to benefit from Greek support towards maritime security programs, including cooperation in surveillance to counter piracy and illegal fishing, exchange programs, scholarships, skills transfer and partnership with Bandari College,” he said.
