Kenya, Colombia sign first joint commission for cooperation

By Peter Ochieng

Kenya and Colombia's relations took a major positive turn on Tuesday evenning, following the signing of the first Joint Commission for Cooperation (JCC), in Bogota.

The signing was witnessed by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and his host, Colombia Vice President Francia Elena Marquez Mina.

Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Alfred Mutua and Francisco Coy, Colombia's Vice Minister for External Relations signed the agreement after the successful inaugural JCC meeting.

"The signing of the cooperation has opened a new path of deepening our collaboration in various sectors including Agriculture, Gender, Education, Science and Technology, Culture, Transport, Health, Environmental Conservation, Trade and Investment, among others," DP Gachagua said in a statement.

"We have also held talks on ways to enhance the ties through direct flights between our countries to increase interaction and improve movement of goods and services. Further, we have opened discussions on ending visa requirements for diplomatic and service passport holders."

He said he will work round the clock to ensure that the agreement is implemented to the latter.

"We are grateful to our hard working teams from Kenya and Colombia for putting in the hardwork to realise this cooperation. I express my immense gratitude and appreciation to Vice President Marquez for her leadership, time and commitment in this process. I reaffirm the government's commitment to work closely with our Colombia counterparts to ensure full implementation of the outcome."

Gachagua left the country on Sunday, for the Global Coffee Producers and Roasters Forum in Colombia.

The South American nation is a global leader in specialty coffee.

It produces and exports to high value markets such as the United States, Germany, and Belgium, which Kenya is also targeting through value addition.

The country produces about 12 percent of the world’s coffee, making it the third largest in the world, after Brazil and Vietnam.

From Colombia, Gachagua heads to Havana, Cuba where he will represent president William Ruto at the G77 Summit.

The Group of 77 (G77) is a coalition of 134 developing countries, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations.

There were 77 founding members of the organization headquartered in Geneva, but it has since expanded to 134 member countries.

This year's summit runs from 15th to 16th, September, 2023.