President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday launched the country’s first foreign and diaspora policy.The two policy documents are meant to govern Kenya’s external relations and consolidate contribution of the Kenyan diaspora to the country’s development.
While the Foreign Policy document lays out the principles that govern our engagement with the world, the Diaspora Policy will guide us in harnessing the wealth and expertise of Kenyans in the diaspora to our development efforts, he said in Nairobi.
He said the Foreign Policy is pegged on five pillars “ economic diplomacy, peace diplomacy, environmental diplomacy, cultural diplomacy and Diaspora diplomacy.
The core of the economic diplomacy pillar, President Kenyatta said, is the search for a robust and sustained economic growth as envisaged by Vision 2030.
While our economy was recently rebased making the country a middle-income country and the 9th largest economy in Africa, we know that too many of our people remain poor and lack opportunity.
Economic diplomacy will form a critical part of our development push, he said.
He said Kenya has redefined its foreign policy to ensure it properly supports robust reciprocal bilateral and multilateral relations in trade, taxation and investment.
-starafrica.com
