Rebecca Miano, Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Investments, Trade, and Industry will lead a Kenyan delegation to the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
The conference is set to take place from February 26 to February 29, 2024, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The conference will focus on crucial trade-related policies that include agriculture, subsidies for the fisheries sector, trade and sustainable development, digital trade, and reforms to the existing multilateral trading system.
The CS has been appointed to facilitate agriculture negotiations at the MC13, one of the long-standing trade policy issues at the WTO.
In a statement on Saturday, the Ministry of trade said the delegation will be working towards addressing challenges that will address contemporary shortcomings in the agriculture sector such as food security and trade-related distortions.
“The outcome is expected to deliver a fairer, more, equitable, and market-oriented agricultural trading system, ending hunger and improving nutrition, promoting sustainable agriculture and food systems, and promoting the adoption of resilient agricultural practices that enhance productivity and production,” the statement reads in part.
This will be a fulfilment of the Sustainable Development Goal 2 of the United Nations.
A particular focus will be securing the interests of small-scale food and agriculture producers in developing countries.
Kenya will participate in several deliberations on existing frameworks including regional groups at the Ministerial level such as the African Ministers of ‘Trade meeting; the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group Ministerial Meeting, and the Second Meeting of the Coalition of Trade Ministers on Climate.
The CS will hold consultations with several Ministers of Trade from several countries to enhance bilateral trade relations between them and Kenya.