Kenya: President Kenyatta arrives in Tokyo for official visit

By Kazungu Chai

Tokyo – President Uhuru Kenyatta arrived in Tokyo late Thursday for his first official visit to Japan as Head of State and Government.

The President’s five-day visit is aimed at boosting bilateral and trade relations between Kenya and Japan. It also targets enhancing the existing technical and development cooperation between the two countries.

President Kenyatta will separately hold talks Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Emperor Akihito, as well as other high-ranking government officials.

The President will also join other Heads of State and Government attending the 3rdUN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture. The Conference is the first large-scale multilateral conference for the post-2015 development agenda.

It will assess and review the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, an international guiding principle on disaster risk reduction from 2005 to 2015 adopted at the Second World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe City, Japan, in 2005. At least 15 Heads of Government are scheduled to attend, organisers said.

The Head of State’s itinerary also includes attending a Kenya-Japan Business Forum and meeting Kenyan diaspora working and residing in Japan. The business forum will bring together high-profile business leaders from both Kenya and Japan.

The plane carrying the President and his entourage touched down at Narita International Airport shortly after 6.00 p.m. Tokyo time (12 noon Nairobi).

President Kenyatta and his entourage, which includes National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich, was received at the airport by senior Japanese Government officials and the Kenyan Ambassador to Japan, Amb. Solomon Maina.