6.0 REGIONAL, GLOBAL AND DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS

The Democratic Party of Kenya is aware of the desire of many countries to co-operate economically by reducing trade barriers and enhancing free movement of trade among themselves. The purpose of such Regional or global groupings is to promote economic growth in the member states, promotion of Regional peace and security and the attraction of investments and promotion of trade One of the greatest benefits of integration is the creation of an enlarged market for the member counties which results in economies of scale. There are challenges that affect the Regional economic integration. These include sacrifice of National interests; natural barriers like language, customs and culture; the structure of economies of the member states; level of infrastructure development; the level of economic development; revenue consideration and overlapping membership among others.

Kenya is a member of East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Cross Border Initiative (CBI). On the global scene, Kenya is a member of the United Nations (UN), the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the World Tourism Organizations (WTO), and African Union (AU). Kenya is currently negotiating with the European Union (EU) for the development of Economic Partnership Agreements, (EPA).

The World Trade Organization has set up rules governing the removal of trade barriers in each of these Regional organizations. Kenya as a Country has to adhere to those rules. Kenya has a number of multilateral and bilateral development partners who have been instrumental in Kenya’s development, particularly in meeting the National Budget deficits. These multilateral donors include the World Bank, the International Monetary Funds (IMF) and bilateral partners like the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, OPEC and the Scandinavian countries ;to mention a few.

In order to enhance international cooperation and inter-Regional partnership the Democratic Party of Kenya undertakes to:

1. Continue to participate in negotiations for better terms of cooperation in the Region through the existing Regional bodies

2. Implement all protocols of both the Regional and International bodies

3. Constantly review bilateral trade agreements to ensure that the Country benefits from them.

4. Ensure that donor funding is used for the purpose intended in a transparent and accountable manner.

5. Encourage Kenyans to invest in the Region.

6. Promote Regionalization to enlarge the markets for Kenyan products in the East African Community (EAC) and the common markets for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

7. Continue negotiations with the European Union in the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)

8. Ensure that borrowing by the Government is used for the purpose intended and that there is transparency and accountability in all dealings.

9. Ensure that action is taken on all reports by the Auditor General and the Parliamentary watchdog committees for the purpose of building confidence with the development partners.

10. Disseminate information on existing treaties especially the Regional ones

11. Popularise support for Regional Cooperation by showing specific benefits to the citizens e.g. the free movement of people and goods

12. Enact new Laws and Protocols to be explained to the people in Regional issues

13. Create an environment to remove Non Tariff Barriers (NTBs)

14. Produce raw material for East African Market.