Kenya and Iran have renewed cooperation in different areas in an agreement set to correct trade imbalance between the two countries. The two nations said trade volumes between them still low but with a potential to grow.
In a bilateral talk held in Nairobi on Wednesday, presidents of the two countries witnessed signing of Memorandum of Understanding in the areas of agriculture and livestock, ICT, Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage, Mining and Blue Economy and Education.
Kenya hopes to increase tea, meat and coffee export through the new cooperation. “Through renewal of our cooperation with Iran, we are also looking into using Iran as a gateway to access 12 other countries in Central Asia, tapping into Iran’s technology experience will also be key in our new move,” President William Ruto said.
“Trade between Kenya and Iran has been on steady increase with tea export to Tehran improving 8-fold in the first quarter of 2023 compared to same period last year. Value of tea to Iran hit Sh4 billion in the first quarter of 2023,” he noted.
The president also called on Iran to take advantage of tax incentives in the current budget to increase investment in the health sector. The government in the 2023/24 Budget removed taxes on medical and pharmaceutical equipment.
Ruto noted that Iran is already a partner in Kenya’s health sector with two health centers in Nairobi maintained by Iran.
Under the agriculture and Livestock MoU, the two countries agreed to work on areas towards improvement of animal health, production, control and prevention of diseases. In ICT, the two countries will work on a framework to facilitate, diversify and develop Information and Communication Technology.
In an MOU witnessed by his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi, President William Ruto’s government also agreed to work with Iran on the promotion and preservation of culture in the Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage area.
Under Mining and Blue Economy, Kenya will tap Iran expertise to catalyse local fishing industry. The two countries will also benefit from each other’s expertise in areas of education with key focus being on training of trainers, equipping Technical, Industrial, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training centers.
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