Ruto in Israel for a meeting with President Herzog and PM Netanyahu
National
By
Too Jared
| May 09, 2023
President William Ruto is in Israel on a two-day State visit following an invitation by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
President Ruto was Tuesday hosted by Israel President Isaac Herzog upon arrival from the Netherlands where he held bilateral talks with King Willem-Alexander, and will later hold a meeting with PM Netanyahu.
Ruto is expected to tour several agricultural projects in Israel and hold high-level discussions on areas of mutual interest to the countries.
In a tweet, the Head of State stated that the visit was geared towards broadening Kenya and Israel's friendship - with a special focus on agriculture.
"Israel's modern farming technology will sustainably drive this hugely transformational agenda. Met the President of Israel Isaac Herzog at his Residence in Jerusalem; agreed to expand our cooperation in trade, agriculture, security and technology," tweeted Ruto.
The President is accompanied by, among others, First Lady Rachel Ruto, Cabinet Secretaries Alfred Mutua (Foreign Affairs) and Mithika Linturi (Agriculture), and the Economic Advisor to the President, Augustine Cheruiyot.
According to CS Linturi, President Ruto will lead the Kenyan government in signing agreements on areas of collaboration between the two countries.
Linturi said his Ministry is looking forward to 'agreements on Public Private Partnerships with some of Israel's big manufacturers in agricultural value chain'.
"These partnerships will address our food security concerns & benefit our small & large-scale farmers in both crop & livestock farming. My ministry is working tirelessly to run away from rain-fed agriculture & adopt modern farming like drip irrigation to improve food production," tweeted CS Linturi.
A message echoed by CS Mutua after a meeting with Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eli Cohen.
CS Mutua disclosed that teams engaged in the bilateral talks have been tasked with the urgent completion of pending issues in order to achieve maximum benefits for the two nations.
The CS tweeted, "We signed an agreement on issues of implementation to bind the two nations to an action-based relationship for the realization of development for both nations."