Roundup: Kenya, Qatar ink 3 deals to boost bilateral ties

Kenyan and Qatari governments on Tuesday signed agreements of cooperation on tourism, education and culture as part of efforts to enhance bilateral ties.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and visiting His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani held bilateral talks in Nairobi where Nairobi also presented proposals on new opportunities for investment to their Qatari counterparts.

"Kenya will therefore appreciate your country's support for development projects in infrastructure, education, energy, tourism and hospitality sectors among others," Kenyatta said during the bilateral meeting.

The Memorandum of Understanding on tourism cooperation provides for the creation of conditions for long-term collaboration in tourism through exchange of expertise, statistics, marketing and promotion.

The agreement on education, higher education, scientific research and technology provides a general framework for cooperation in these fields through exchanges of information, expertise and visits.

The two countries also signed an agreement that promotes each other's cultural arts and matters, through exchanges and participation in each other's cultural activities such as festivals, symposia and exhibitions.

During the meeting, Kenyatta said the signed agreements will facilitate implementation of projects in various sectors of the economy and other proposals that would be presented to the Qatari leader during his visit.

He encouraged Qatar to continue using Kenya as a springboard for its investments in the COMESA market region. The president said Kenya has the right mix of being a regional business, financial, transport and industrial hub.

Kenyatta lauded the government of Qatar for the support it gave to the National Treasury of Kenya to establish the Nairobi International Finance Center (NIFC).

"Financial services sector is one of the key drivers of Kenya's economy and therefore the Financial Centre will be a catalyst to international financial transactions both in Kenya and in the region once it is complete," said Kenyatta.

"We also request Qatar to consider supporting capacity building in Kenya, particularly in the aviation industry to meet the demand for specialized cadres of staff in our two countries," he said.

On his part, Al-Thani said it was unfortunate that Kenya and Qatar have in the past failed to exploit the historical ties between the two regions for the economic benefit of their people.

He said his visit to Kenya will go a long way in strengthening mechanisms to exploit the new opportunities that were created after President Kenyatta's State visit to Qatar in 2014.

Al-Thani also lauded Kenya for its efforts in fighting terror, saying that terrorism is a global problem that requires the world coming together to provide a global solution. Endit