State visit · 8 February 2024
Your Excellency, Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan, Honourable Members of Delegation, Distinguished Officials, Members of the Media, Good afternoon,
I take this opportunity to thank the Government and people of Japan for the warm welcome accorded to me and my delegation, and the wonderful hospitality we have enjoyed since our arrival.
On behalf of the people and government of Kenya, I bring you a message of condolence for the government and people of Japan for the loss of your dear citizens and the destruction of property occasioned by the earthquake which struck the Noto Peninsula at the beginning of the year.
My visit comes just as our two countries celebrate 60 years of Kenya-Japan diplomatic relations, and demonstrate that Japan remains an important partner to Kenya. I confirm that Kenya is committed to the enhancement of our friendship, including through the regular exchange of high-level visits.
Over the course of six decades, Kenya-Japan relations have deepened and expanded, and as noted during our discussions with the Prime minister, our economies complement one another, with each country's exports. The key sectors of cooperation include roads and transport, health, energy, ICT, Education and agriculture.
On infrastructure, we concluded discussions on the development of Mombasa and the Coastal region, including the Mombasa Gateway Bridge, Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone, and associated infrastructure in the coast region, and agreed on an accelerated time-bound execution plan.
On agriculture, we acknowledged Japan's support for the completion of Phase II of the Mwea Irrigation Scheme and the completion of the National Rice Masterplan to cover the entire country, as a mechanism of achieving food security in our country, and also throughout our continent, with Africa's food security in mind.
Further, the Prime minister and I discussed the modalities of financing national development, including through frameworks like government-to-government and Public-Private Partnerships. As a consequence, a PPP framework was signed between our governments. We, therefore, agreed to take deliberate steps to facilitate the private sector to play a leading in Kenya-Japan economic cooperation programmes and projects.
In keeping with the commitment to support implementation in some areas of interest, today Kenya and Japan signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the ICT sector, and on the enhancement of the capacity of the Kenya Medical Research Institute, KEMRI to build on its pandemic management potential. Additionally, we witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to issue a Samurai Bond, and also a Letter of Intent with respect to Defence Cooperation to strengthen our partnership in the field of defence and enable us to work together in promoting peace and stability in Africa and all maritime trade routes.
At the multilateral level, Kenya will remain a strong supporter of the Japan-AU partnership in general, and with respect to TICAD in particular, including participating in meetings and Summits and other activities under its auspices. Similarly, we count on Japan' increased support for our nation's development in keeping with the demands of radical positive change.
Japan and Kenya noted the importance of rule-based, transparent and fair development financing and the importance of compliance with the international financial rules and standards by all creditor countries. Japan has a strong voice which can support and amplify the effectively disenfranchised voices of developing countries in regard to their peculiar developmental needs in terms of access to affordable financing for sustainable development, and the reform of international development financial architecture. Additionally, I brought the attention of Prime Minister Kishida to my forthcoming activities as the International Development Agency's Replenishment Champion, and, especially, the Summit I am scheduled to host in Nairobi in April 2024. Through the prime minister, I requested Japan’s support for this important replenishment that will greatly support countries in the global south, especially in Africa.
In our discussions, we noted the need for the international community to uphold the very foundations of the international order such as respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations to ensure global peace and stability. We also covered the urgent and important campaign for the reform of the United National Security Council to reflect its founding values and principles, and to become fairer, more just and democratic in its decision-making and interventions.
Accordingly, I brought to the Prime Minister's attention the need for Japan to support the AU position, as well as ongoing negotiations by the C10. The overdue and unavoidable conversation about reforms to actualise rule-based multilateralism was amply canvassed in our talks. Kenya concurs with Japan on co-creating global solutions for global challenges.
With regard to the United Nations Office in Nairobi, Kenya appreciates Japan’s support for the UN Secretary General’s budgetary allocation towards modernizing the facilities. Accordingly, I called for support in our campaign to strengthen resident UN agencies, particularly the United Nations Environment Programme and UNHabitat particularly to endow them with adequate capacity to effectively execute their mandates from Nairobi. I also appealed to His Excellency the Prime Minister to support our bid to host the International Plastics Convention in Nairobi.
In connection with regional as well as global peace and security, Prime Minister Kishida and I discussed the Multinational Stabilization Mission to Haiti and the situation in the Horn of Africa and Great Lakes regions. I requested Japan’s support for the Multinational Stabilization Mission to Haiti and for other AU regional peace initiatives, particularly those in which Kenya is playing a leading role.
Additionally, Prime Minister Kishida and I concurred on the need for Kenya and Japan to institutionalise the bilateral exchange of high-level exchange of visits in order to provide continued highlevel political guidance to enhance collaboration between technical teams on areas of mutual interest on both bilateral and multilateral levels.
I am delighted to confirm that Prime Minister Kishida assured me of Japan’s continued support for Kenya’s national development agenda by enhancing Kenya's access to financing through increased allocation of special drawing rights at multilateral development financing institutions, like the World Bank and IMF.
After a comprehensive engagement with the Prime Minister regarding the Kenya-Japan partnership I am confident that our bilateral relations will remain strong, robust and dynamic and will supply us with a dependable anchor regardless of the shocks, disruptions, crises, and challenges that may ensue at bilateral and global level. Kenya and Japan have therefore agreed to work together in the spirit of our renewed commitment. Thank You.