Zubair Qureshi
High Commissioner of the Republic of Kenya, MsNyamburaKamau has termed the Kenyan-Pakistan bilateral relations quite warm and friendly based on growing people-to-people and business-to-business ties. She was addressing the 60th anniversary of the Jamhuri (National) Day of Kenya organized at the Marriott on Friday. Diplomats, business community, the African nationals and friends from the African countries attended the reception and greeted the High Commissioner and her team on the auspicious occasion.
Acting Dean of Diplomatic Corps Ambassador Mohamed Karmoune of Morocco, Ambassador of Sudan, Salih Mohamed Ahmed, DG Africa, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shaiq Ahmed Buhutto, Honorary Consul General of Kenya, Faisal Q Khokhar, High Commissioner AzharMazlan of Malaysia, Ambassador of Mauritius, Rashid Ali Subedar, Nepal’s Ambassador Tapas Adhikari, Tunisia’s Acting Ambassador DorsafMaaroufi, British High Commissioner Jane Marriott, Somalia’s Ibrahim Dajire, Palestine’s Ambassador Ahmed Rabei, HC of Bangladesh Ruhul Amin, India’s Deputy High Commissioner GeetikaSrivastava and many distinguished guests were there enjoying the traditional Kenyan hospitality.
Pakistan is the world’s largest importer of tea buying more than $600 million worth from Kenya every year accounting for 85 pc of the total imports.
The Kenyan high commissioner called Pakistan an important partner adding bilateral relations between the two countries were largely dominated by trade and investment worth US $ 768m of exports and imports traded between the two countries in 2022.
About Kenya’s independence day, she said the journey towards was a painful one, characterized by the loss of many freedom fighters, however, on Dec 12, 1963 Kenya’s quest for independence was over and the Republic embarked on a journey of self-determination and equal participation in the international arena. She spoke highly of the Aga Khan Foundation calling it one of the prominent investors in Kenya. “Aga Khan Foundation has invested heavily in the health, education, tourism, hospitality and media sectors in Kenya. The Aga Khan Hospital is one of the leading hospitals with branches all over the country,” she said. In trade, our main products of trade are tea exports to Pakistan and in return we import rice from Pakistan, she said. But it is not only trade and investment “we also collaborate in the multilateral arena, defence, technology, and education,” she said. However, there is significant progress in unlocking more trade goods and investment opportunities in the areas of health, manufacturing, agriculture, technology, education, and tourism among others, she added.
The high commissioner said that Kenya was progressively working with the Government of Pakistan to explore possibilities of expanding the portfolio of traded goods between the two countries while Kenya’s top exports, other than tea, include cut flowers, horticultural products, coffee, fruits, and legumes among others. Kenya, she said, is a renowned tourist destination with flora and fauna characterized by Wildlife in their natural habitats, Mountains, Lakes, white sandy beaches, and diverse cultural phenomena.
