The UAE and Kenya will soon begin negotiations on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement between the two countries. Dr. Sani bin Ahmed Zeyudi, Minister of State for External Trade of Kenya, and Betty Mena, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development of Kenya, signed a joint statement announcing CEPA in Nairobi.

The UAE-Kenya CEPA will be the first bilateral trade agreement the UAE seeks to sign with an African country. Such an agreement would deepen trade and investment ties between Africa and the Middle East, and boost total UAE-Kenya non-oil bilateral trade to $2.3 billion by 2021.

Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi said there are huge opportunities for closer economic integration between our two countries, especially in agriculture, tourism, infrastructure, technology and renewable energy. Announcing our intention to begin negotiations on the UAE-Kenya CEPA reflects our shared commitment to greater economic progress through trade and investment. Our global efforts to forge strategic economic partnerships through CEPA will accelerate our growth and prosperity for the next 50 years.

Kenya, East Africa's largest economy, is expected to grow by 5.5% in 2021 from 7.5% in 2021, with the modest slowdown reflecting headwinds facing global markets. Although the country has a fast-growing financial services sector, competitive manufacturing and ambitious green technology initiatives, tourism and agriculture remain its most prominent sectors. Keywords: engineering news, overseas news

High-level UAE-Kenya CEPA talks will begin in the coming months. They will follow the completion of three CEPAs in 2021, namely India, Israel and Indonesia, under the country's 50-year project initiative. Dr Tani had earlier said this would help grow the national economy by 2.6 per cent by 2030.Editor/XingWentao