Dubai sends delegation to Kenya to boost exports and cooperation

The Dubai Department of Economic Development has sent a trade delegation to Kenya to drum up demand for exports as the UAE embarks on a broader diplomatic initiative in East Africa.

The delegation arrived on Monday and will spend five days in Kenya and Mombassa.

“Kenya is key to Dubai’s standing as a supply chain hub for Africa as well as to any effective strategy to tap East Africa. Connecting to Kenya will open up new possibilities for the growing number of manufacturers and exporters in the UAE who are looking towards emerging markets worldwide,” said Saed Al Awadi, the chief executive of Dubai Exports, part of the Dubai Department of Economic Development.

The Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the chairman of port operator DP World, visited Kenya in June to discuss economic cooperation between the countries. The UAE has two objectives in cultivating a presence in the region – boosting trade ties and cementing Dubai's role as a gateway to East Africa, and aiding the fight against Islamic extremism by providing economic and technical support to East African countries.

Dr Theodore Karasik, a foreign policy scholar who studies the Emirates, wrote in The National in June: "The UAE hopes that DP World's investment will help to eradicate the drivers of extremism by focusing on health care, road networks, micro-financing and job creation."

Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, the leader of Somalia, wrote an opinion piece in The National this week thanking the UAE for its aid to the country.

“The UAE has trained our soldiers, provided a military academy of the highest quality, financed health care, built wells in places where Al Shabab destroyed them and taken on various significant infrastructure projects,” Mr Mohamoud wrote.

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