President Park Geun-hye and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta held summit talks in Nairobi on May 31 to discuss measures that will bolster cooperation on the economy, trade and infrastructure development. They also agreed to work closely together to respond to North Korean nuclear weapons issues and other global issues.

President Park told the Kenyan leader that, “Bilateral ties between Korea and Kenya have been steadily developing ever since the establishment of the diplomatic relationship in 1964, and they have great development potential.” She proposed to the Kenyan president that Korea and Kenya develop a mutually beneficial partnership, saying that, “Korea can be a good partner for Kenya to carry out its Vision 2030, as Korea has successful experiences in development backed by its five-year economic development plans.”

President Kenyatta told President Park that, “Korea and Kenya can form a closer cooperative relationship in IT, water resources, education and other areas, based on the common values both countries share.” He also proposed that both countries bolster cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, human resources and technology.

President Park said she hopes to bolster development cooperation with Kenya focusing on training human resources, as well as IT and technology experts. She proposed to the Kenyan leader that Korea and Kenya consider working together in the long term, while mentioning the similarities between Korea Aid, her government's new developmental aid program, and Kenya’s own Beyond Zero campaign.



The two leaders reached an agreement on North Korean nuclear weapons issues, too. Expressing his "concerns on North Korea's nuclear tests and missile launch," President Kenyatta condemned the North's provocative acts and urged that they halt such actions. "Kenya will take necessary measures to faithfully implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 2270 and will continue to maintain this principle," said the Kenyan president. President Park, expressing her thanks for the Kenyan government's support, said that, "Implementing U.N. sanctions is the most important step, at present, so that the North is exposed to pressure from the international community."

The Korean and Kenyan governments, based on agreements made during the summit talks that day, signed 20 memorandums of understanding (MOU) covering economic cooperation, particularly further opportunities for Korean companies to participate in the Kenyan government's long-term development plan, Vision 2030. In addition to this, the two governments also agreed to strengthen partnerships in nuclear energy and electricity generation, discussed sharing Korea's experience with nuclear power plant construction and management, and conducting joint studies on nuclear power plants. Building an industrial complex in Kenya was agreed upon, as well, based on the MOU signed between the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation and the Export Processing Zones Authority of Kenya.

Finally, partnerships in high value-added areas, such as online government services, science and technologies, and health care and medicine, were agreed upon, too. Based on the MOU covering e-government cooperation, the two governments decided to run a Korea-Kenya Electronic Government Cooperation Center for three years, starting in 2017. The two governments also signed an MOU that covered cooperation on IT that will help share human resources with experience in mobile communications, software and big data.

By Yoon So-jung, Chang Iou-chung
Korea.net Staff Writers
Photos: Cheong Wa Dae
arete@korea.kr