President William Ruto on Tuesday arrived in Dubai for a two-day Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) Summit.
The President is scheduled to speak during the opening session of the summit, whose theme is "Exploring the Global Energy Transition".
"He will highlight Kenya's leadership in renewable energy, particularly geothermal power, and identify opportunities for global partnerships to address energy challenges and foster green growth," State House spokesperson Hussein Mohamed said.
The ADSW Summit is a high-level forum that convenes world leaders to advance the global sustainability agenda.
Mohamed said the President will also hold high-level bilateral discussions with key global leaders, including His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
The State House spokesperson said the discussions will focus on strengthening cooperation in energy, trade, investment, and technology, which are key pillars of Kenya's Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda.
"During the visit, Kenya and the UAE are expected to sign a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, which will foster increased trade, investment, and development cooperation between the two countries,” he said.
The UAE is Kenya's sixth-largest export destination and a key market for tea, meat products, fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
Mohamed said the agreement is expected to further simplify export procedures, enhance market access for trade in services, and stimulate increased investments from the UAE across several sectors.
The President’s visit to the United Arab Emirates comes after Prime Cabinet Secretary and Diaspora and Foreign Affairs CS Musalia Mudavadi left the country to UAE for bilateral meetings and the signing of the long-awaited Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) deal.
His office said in a statement on Sunday the CEPA deal will be signed between January 12-17.
"The CEPA seeks to strengthen the existing relationship between Kenya and the UAE by promoting preferential and mutually beneficial trade, investment and economic relations through the progressive elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers on substantially all trade in goods to establish a free trade area among the parties," the statement said.
It added that the CEPA will give Kenya a unique opportunity to enter into a reciprocal bilateral trade and development deal with the United Arab Emirates which is Kenya's 7th largest export market.
