Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will be visiting Kenya from January 29-30, 2020 to participate in the first-ever Pakistan-Africa Trade Development Conference, Foreign Office said.

During the visit, he will hold meetings with the Kenyan leadership, including Cabinet Secretaries for Foreign Affairs & International Trade, African Community and Northern Corridor Development, Transport and Ports, as well as for Trade, Industry and Cooperatives.

The first-ever Pakistan-Africa Trade Development Conference, hosted jointly by the Ministries of Commerce and Foreign Affairs, government of Pakistan, will be held in Nairobi on 30-31 January 2020. Besides Foreign Minister Qureshi, Advisor for Commerce, Textiles, Industry and Production, and Investments, Abdul Razak Dawood will participate in the conference. Both the foreign minister and the adviser will address the inaugural session.

Apart from Kenyan cabinet members, dignitaries from other African states and Pakistani envoys in Africa, the conference will be attended by a strong contingent of business-people and entrepreneurs from Pakistan, who will interact with their African counterparts. In all, some 300 participants are expected to attend the conference.

"Africa's increasing integration and growth momentum together with Pakistan's potential as a connectivity hub have opened multiple avenues for win-win collaboration," said Foreign Office Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui.

She said the conference would provide a platform for G2G [government-to-government] and B2B [business-to-business] interaction, adding it would be an important opportunity for Pakistani and African businesses to interface, identify the areas for enhanced engagement, and develop proposals for customized economic collaboration.

She said the conference was part of Pakistan's 'Engage Africa' initiative, which was in line with Prime Minister Imran Khan's vision to forge closer political and economic ties with the African continent, and place a stronger accent on economic diplomacy.

"Pakistan has been a longstanding partner of Africa - from extending assistance in freedom struggles from colonial yoke, to supporting peace and security through participation in multiple peace-keeping operations under the UN auspices," the spokesperson said.

She said Pakistan enjoyed fraternal relations with all African partners, including Kenya, grounded in shared interests, mutual respect and mutual support. The foreign minister's visit would serve to reaffirm the historic ties of friendship, and further expand the scope of multi-faceted cooperation, she added.

