President William Ruto is set to fly out on Sunday, September 1, 2024, to commence his official visit to Beijing, China for the 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit.
In a despatch from State House Spokesperson Hussein Mohamed, President Ruto is expected to engage in several activities while in China.
He will meet with other invited Heads of State at the Summit whose theme is ‘Joining Hands to Advance Modernisation and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future.’
In the despatch, Hussein Mohamed disclosed that Ruto is expected to co-chairing a session on “Pursuing High-Quality Belt and Road Initiative Cooperation: A Platform for Modernisation Featuring Planning, Building, and Benefiting Together” at the High-Level Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) event.
“During his visit to Beijing, President Ruto will participate in several other high-profile meetings and events to further strengthen Kenya-China relations and explore new areas of collaboration,” the statement read in part.
Meetings and engagements
According to the depatch, the Head of State is expected to meet with President Xi Jinping to discuss strengthening bilateral ties and exploring new areas of cooperation between Kenya and China.
After meeting with President Jinping, Ruto is also expected to engage in bilateral talks with other Heads of State from Senegal and Algeria.
Ruto will further attend China-Africa Entrepreneurs Conference: The meeting will serve as a platform for African and Chinese business leaders to explore investment opportunities in sectors like Infrastructure, health, manufacturing, ICT, e-mobility, agriculture, and value addition.
“Meetings with private sector corporations: President Ruto will engage with major Chinese corporations to pitch for increased investment in Kenya’s infrastructure development, healthcare and technology sectors. The expected outcomes of the FOCAC Summit include the Beijing Declaration by Heads of State and Government, and an action plan detailing agreed areas of cooperation for the period between 2025 and 2027,” the despatch added.
Expected deals
President William Ruto is expected to strike various deals which will be instrumental for the complexion of various projects in the country.
The Nairobi Intelligent Transport System, dams, TVETS and SGR extension are some of the projects expected to benefit from his China trip.
“Agreements on support for infrastructure development, including construction of rural roads across the country, the Nairobi Intelligent Transport System, Bosto Dam Water Supply Project as well as phase III of the upgrading of equipment in technical and vocational training (TVET) workshops. 3. Conclusion of discussions on new cooperation projects such as the extension and completion of SGR phases 2B and 2C (Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba), dualling of the Nairobi Northern Bypass, among other vital infrastructure projects,” State House Spokesperson explained.