Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma is in Bangkok, Thailand/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 1 – Kenya has intensified its campaigns for the United Nations Security Council bid with the focus now shifting to the Asian Pacific Region.
Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma is in Bangkok, Thailand, for an official visit at the invitation of her counterpart, Don Pramudwinai during when she will lobby for support for Kenya’s bid.
The CS will also deliver a special message from President Uhuru Kenyatta to his counterparts in the Kingdom of Vietnam and the Republic of Indonesia, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.
“Today’s international dynamics and future trends make the ASEAN region a critical international player. My visit, therefore, offers a unique opportunity to engage with a region that offers Kenya, and Africa, many lessons. It is also a region that we share deep historical ties as well as a world view of global cooperation. More importantly, we also look to the support and solidarity of the ASEAN region as we continue to serve the world in general, and as we seek a seat in the UNSC. We are also in the process of growing our diplomatic footprint in the ASEAN region,” CS Juma said on arrival in Bangkok, Sunday afternoon.
During the five-day visit, the CS says she will also market President Kenyatta’s BIG Four Agenda, more so on possible areas of cooperation, with a region she says holds deep historical ties with Kenya.
“Drawing on the development trajectory of the South East Asia countries, I will be urging the private sector in these countries to invest in the opportunities presented by the Big Four priority areas in Kenya, and to use Kenya as the bridge to the 1.2 market arising out of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” she said.
This comes barely three weeks after the country officially launched the campaign for its candidacy for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council in New York.
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