Development of bilateral political and economic relations and possibilities of using Polish experience in transformation and modernisation of the economy were the main topics of the visit of Deputy Minister Paweł Jabłoński to Kenya.
– Poland appreciates Kenya’s influential position on the African continent and recognizes its economic potential. We are particularly interested in reinvigorating the political dialogue, including in the context of Kenya’s current membership of the UN Security Council. As a country that has achieved significant economic successes since the introduction of difficult reforms over 30 years ago and has used advanced technologies, e.g., in banking, digitalization of health service or improvement of tax collection, we have a lot to offer – emphasized Deputy Minister Paweł Jabłoński during the meeting with his Kenyan counterpart, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ababu Namwamba.
Apart from the talks in Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister Paweł Jabloński, together with the President of the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency Janusz Janiszewski, had a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, Urban Development and Public Works Christopher Obure and the Head of the Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority Joseph Nkadayo. It discussed, among other things, the possibility of establishing Polish-Kenyan cooperation in the field of unmanned aircraft traffic management. The Polish Air Navigation Services Agency has the most modern technological solutions in the EU and has experience in the regulatory sphere, which it is ready to share with the Kenyan side.
– We are proud of the achievements of Kenyan firemen, who thanks to Polish support have better and better training facilities and successively raise their skills – said Deputy Minister Jabłoński during his visit to the Fire and Rescue Training Centre in Kiambu County.
Created from scratch with Polish aid funds, in cooperation with Kenyan Chief Fire Officers Association and Polish Centre for International Aid Foundation, the centre is the only training centre for fire services in the whole of East Africa. Since 2014, more than 60 per cent of Kenyan firefighters have been trained, tripling the number of firefighters nationwide. The Polish aid funds were also used to finance and implement a structured training program for them, which significantly improved the effectiveness of rescue operations.
The Deputy Minister of Polish diplomacy also met with representatives of Kenyan Polonia, Polish missionaries and Kenyan graduates of Polish universities. He also visited the National Museum of Kenya, which commemorates the activities of Leon Baranski, co-founder of Polish banking in the interwar years, organizer and first governor of the Central Bank of Kenya (1966-1967).