Kenya and Indonesia boost bilateral relations with investment deals

Trade CS Moses Kuria (back left) and Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Pandjaitan (back right), witness the signing of preferential trade agreements between the two nations. [Standard, file]

Kenya and Indonesia have made significant strides in enhancing their bilateral relations through a range of investment projects.

In a meeting on Friday, July 14, with President William Ruto, Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Pandjaitan, and some Kenyan cabinet members, they negotiated preferential trade agreements between the countries.

Pandjaitan said that Indonesia's oil and gas company (PERTAMINA) had proposed cooperation to explore and build an oil and gas refinery in Kenya.

"Both countries have experience in sustainable oil palm cultivation, and Indonesia has expressed interest in exploring cooperation in developing oil palm plantations in Kenya. In this regard, to fulfill Kenya's domestic demand for refined palm oil, Indonesia and Kenya have agreed on a deal of palm oil trading of 94,000 metric tons annually," Pandjaitan said.

The coordinating minister also mentioned plans to discuss major geothermal and integrated upstream investments to secure Kenya and Africa as a whole.

Regarding health, Kenya is set to benefit from vaccine production and donations resulting from an agreement between Kenya's BioVax Institute on vaccine production cooperation and an Indonesian company.

Kenya has also signed the Livestock Production and Animal Health Letter of Intent (LOI) between their respective agricultural departments.

The two countries discussed reaching a target cattle volume of 50,000 in Indonesia, starting with a shipment of 20,000 head.

An Indonesian textile industry has also planned to establish a knitting and garment factory in Kenya.

In the defense ministry, the two countries plan to cooperate in the sector to enhance defense capacity building and the development of the defense industry.

Additionally, President Ruto has imposed visa exemption on all passport holders to promote tourism, trade, and socio-cultural relations between the two countries.

The investment discussions aim to create more jobs for people who will be involved in the projects.

The meeting was held ahead of Indonesian President Joko Widodo's visit to Kenya next month.