Nairobi — President Kibaki on Monday left the country for a three-day official visit to Swaziland where he will attend the 14th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) Summit of the Heads of State and government.

The Comesa region is Kenya's largest export destination. Last year, Kenya exports to Comesa were worth KSh110 billion.

Comesa institutions based in Nairobi include the Comesa insurance institution - ZEP RE, the Comesa Monetary Institute and the Regional Reference Laboratory, catering for plant protection. The headquarters of the PTA bank was located in Nairobi until 2009.

Kenya is also expected to hold a high-level conference for mobilisation of resources for infrastructure development in the Northern Corridor in October.

The 14th Comesa summit will examine, among other things, developments on the regional integration agenda, including progress towards full implementation of the Comesa Customs Union, the tripartite cooperation between Comesa, the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community, and how the region can enhance the use of science and technology for the benefit of its people.

During the Summit, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is scheduled to hand over the chairmanship of Comesa to King Mswati III of Swaziland.

Comesa, whose current membership stands at 19 countries with a combined population of 389 million, has an annual import bill of US$32 billion against an export bill of US$82 billion. To spur growth, Comesa's strategy is economic prosperity through regional integration.

The plane carrying President Kibaki and his delegation departed Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) shortly after midday.

President Kibaki is accompanied by Cabinet Ministers Moses Wetangula and Chirau Ali Makwere and the High Commissioner to Zambia who is also the Permanent Representative to Comesa Amb. Dr. Kipyego Cheluget. At the airport to see off the President, were the Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, Internal Security Minister Prof George Saitoti, Defence Minister Yusuf Haji among other senior Government officials.