Director General LI Tiegang Leads FIO Delegation to Visit Kenya

From May 24 to 25, LI Tiegang, Director General of the First Institute of Oceanography led a delegation to visit Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) for cooperation and exchanges. The two sides reached a consensus on promoting China-Kenya marine cooperation and strengthening cooperation in ocean observation and prediction, marine disaster prevention and mitigation, response to climate change and capacity building in marine science and technology and signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding. KMD representatives including Deputy Director of KMD, Assistant Director of KMD, and Director of the Forecasting Services attended the meeting with FIO delegation.

During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the history of scientific research cooperation. Director General LI Tiegang noted that FIO started to cooperate with KMD and signed the Letter of Intent in 2012 and in September 2019, FIO and KMD carried out the China-Kenya joint marine survey cruise in Kenyan jurisdictional waters and deployed Bailong buoys developed independently by FIO, marking a new stage of cooperation in ocean and climate. LI also expressed hopes to continue and deepen cooperation in scientific research based on the current work and under the framework of UN Ocean Decade Prof. Kennedy Kimani Thiong'o, Deputy Director of KMD, pointed out that the oceans are of vital importance to the systematic weather forecasting of Kenya. Compared with other Oceans in the world, there is currently a lack of in situ marine observation data in the Western Indian Ocean, especially in the offshore waters of East Africa, which has limited the ability of ocean and weather forecasting in the East African and adjacent seas. Deputy Director Kennedy highly appreciated FIO’s support and help to Kenya's marine climate observation in the previous cooperation, and believed that based on the observation data obtained from the joint cruises, KMD was able to effectively improve the weather forecasting capability of East Africa and Kenya, and provide Kenyan people with more reliable meteorological services.

During the visit, the two sides had in-depth and practical discussions on ocean and climate observation and prediction, ocean disaster prevention and mitigation, strategies to deal with climate change and capacity building in marine science and technology and reached a consensus on deepening cooperation. After discussions, the two sides signed the MOU, which opens a new chapter of scientific research cooperation between FIO and relevant organizations in East Africa, and sets a key cooperation hub in East Africa for the marine disaster prevention and mitigation cooperation in the Indian Ocean Rim.

Group photo

MOU Signing

KMD hosts a meeting with FIO delegation

FIO delegation visits the Forecasting Center at KMD