Kenya, Indonesia collaborate to boost mining sector

Mining CS Salim Mvurya speaks as his Indonesian counterpart Dr Adriani Kusumawardani, among others, looks on after the signing of the MoU. [Boniface Okendo, Standard]

Kenya and Indonesia plan to begin implementing the Memorandum of Understanding to boost the mining sector.

This is a follow-up to the MoU that was signed in August last year during the state visit by the Indonesian president.

Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya said the MoU related to mining, collaboration on matters of geology, laboratory upgrading, testing and sampling and capacity building.

“As a Ministry, we have prioritised testing and sampling as a key area that is going to grow the mining sector in our country,” he said.

He noted that the laboratories in the country are not up to standard and the collaboration will lead to the acquisition of technology, required experience and capacity building.

Mvurya said this will lead to an upgrade of mining laboratories to international standards.

“We have advertised to upgrade Madini house here in Nairobi and establish eight more laboratories in the region. The MoU will help us in achieving our dreams by having an ISO-certified laboratory here in Kenya,” Mvurya said.

He spoke yesterday during a media briefing at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) in Nairobi when he hosted government officials and mineral investors from Indonesia.

Secretary Directorate Mineral and Coal Indonesia government official Rita Susilawati said her government is committed to collaborating with the Government of Kenya.

“Indonesia is committed to doing some work with Kenya in order to accelerate the mining sector growth and we believe we can help each other for future generations,” Susiwati said.

The meeting discussed the commencement of implementation of the MoU and the setting up of an international standard testing and certification laboratory in Kenya.

"In geology, we are looking at the entire area of mapping and ground rooting and how we can share experiences and technologies so that we can benefit from experiences in Indonesia," Mvurya.

The CS said collaboration with Indonesia is key because the country has done a lot of mining.

He announced that Kenya will work with Indonesia in developing relevant policies, regulations and laws that will enable the inspiration of the mining sector for the growth of the economy.

Mvurya said that they will inspire the private sector in Kenya as well as Indonesia to illuminate the mining opportunities in Kenya.

"We are going to draw a framework that will guide the implementations. After the meeting both teams will draw an action plan that will have specific responsibilities, action points where each government official for both countries will take over the implementation,” he said.