President William Ruto and Italy President Sergio Mattarella
By: PCS
President William Ruto confirmed Tuesday that Kenya and Italy have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that will see the two countries cooperate in different fields.
Ruto said Italy has committed to advance Ksh14 billion in grants and soft loans covering projects in agriculture, development of MSMEs, housing and urban settlement, health, the digital super highway and creative economy.
“This will be done through the Kenya-Italy Multi-Annual Five-Year Cooperation Strategy on sustainable development,” he said
In the MOU’s, Ruto says President Sergio Mattarella’s administration will support Kenya’s Health sector towards the realization of Universal Health Coverage and improved pharmaceutical production.
“Our meeting provided us with the opportunity to discuss, at great length, modalities of enhancing trade and investment between Kenya and Italy. I am delighted to announce that President Mattarella and I witnessed the signing of 2 agreements, 2 MOUs and a joint declaration, to provide a framework for advancement of bilateral cooperation in different fields.” President Ruto said
“We have also signed an MOU on bilateral consultations that will establish and set guidelines for the conduct of political consultations at the respective ministries of foreign affairs,” he added
In the deals signed Tuesday, the head of state disclosed that Nairobi and Rome will re-establish cooperation on the construction of Arror, Kimwarer and Itare dams and other water and sanitation projects, which are critical to Kenya’s agenda on food security and climate action.