UAE Development Trade Platform will help Kenya enhance its technical expertise in global trade

He Ministry of Economy has announced that Kenya is the latest country to secure access to the United Arab Emirates. Trade for development platform, which was launched by Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Tradeduring the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi in February.

Dr. Al Zeyoudi saying,

“The Trade for Development platform underlines the UAE’s commitment to enhancing inclusive and sustainable trade and harnessing its power to drive economic growth and prosperity around the world. As we have rapidly expanded our business relationships over recent years, we have developed extensive experience and expertise in the complex world of business negotiations.

We welcome Kenya’s registration, which provides an opportunity for its policymakers and business officials to benefit from best-in-class expertise, empowering them to better integrate with the global economy, accelerate their development and raise the living standards of its citizens.”

He Trade for development The platform is a technical assistance program developed by the United Arab Emirates that offers a set of online tools to help trade officials, negotiators and policymakers from developing and least developed countries develop the necessary technical capacity and expertise to negotiate complex and highly technical commercial agreements.

Lack of resources and technical expertise is considered the main obstacle for many countries to effectively participate in the global economy and truly benefit from the multilateral trading system.

He Trade for development The platform features a virtual library of content from global trade and policy experts, with curated online courses and self-learning resources covering all key chapters traditionally found in a trade agreement, including customs and trade facilitation, rules of origin , trade in services, intellectual property rights and dispute resolution.

The platform will serve as an always-on resource for developing country officials to use as they formulate trade policies and negotiate trade agreements.

Kenya’s registration on the platform reflects the growing trade and investment ties between the two countries. In 2023, nations shared $3.1 billion in bilateral non-oil trade, a 26.4% increase from the previous year. Kenya is one of Africa’s most promising economies, experiencing real GDP growth of 5% in 2023 and a projected increase of 4.5% to 5.2% in 2024.

Kenya is the ninth country to be given access to the platform, and eight other countries were invited to make use of its extensive resources when the platform was launched during the biannual meeting of its WTO members. Those eight countries were Ethiopia, Mozambique, Antigua and Barbuda, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Comoros, Kyrgyzstan and Barbados.

News source: Emirates News Agency