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(Xinhua) – Kenya expects to gain full benefits from the Chinese government's eight new measures of promoting Sino-African cooperation, Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said during an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Monday.

Kenya wants to benefit from the measures in areas such as agriculture, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), infrastructure development, energy and environment, said Wetangula, who is here to attend the 14th African Union (AU) summit held in the Ethiopian capital.

The Chinese government announced eight new measures aimed at promoting pragmatic Sino-African cooperation at the fourth ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt last November.

The measures included, among others, intensification of technical-scientific cooperation, reinforcement of African financial capacities and increased access of African products to the Chinese market.

Kenya is going to be "on the fast-lane" to make sure these measures bring benefits to the country, said Wetangula.

To this end, responsible ministers of the Kenya government will consider the eight-point plan and make respective efforts to ensure its implementation in Kenya, he said.

In particular, Kenya is hoping to gain benefits from China's technological development to help achieve its goal of becoming a medium-income country by the year 2030, said the foreign minister.

China has made tremendous progress in technological development, he said. "We want to move now to a level where the cooperation is not limited to programs and projects but also technology transfer," said Wetangula.

"It's a lesson we can learn. It is a path we can follow. It is an experience we can benefit from," said Wetangula. Therefore, in the next level of cooperation, Kenya will focus on how China can start some of its industrial development programs in Kenya, with the manufacturing of goods and provision of services, he said.

Referring to the theme of the summit "ICTs in Africa: Challenges and Prospects for Development," Wetangula said ICTs is now the engine of development for any country, adding that Africa must be held onto the communication highway if it wants to rise from abject poverty and rural backwardness and catch up with the rest of the world.

The three-day AU summit gathered heads of state and government of more than 50 members of the bloc to assess the achievements and challenges of Africa's ICTs sector, and map out relevant development strategies. The leaders will also discuss issues of major concerns in the continent, including regional conflicts, Africa's political and economic integration, climate change and Africa's stance on UN reforms, among others.