President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Andrej Kiska of Slovakia shake
hands during a press briefing after holding bilateral talks at State
House Nairobi on February 13,2017. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA
GROUP
By NEVILLE OTUKI
Kenya seeks to ride on warm diplomatic relations with
Slovakia to grow exports to the European country following yesterday’s
arrival of President Andrej Kiska for a three-day State visit to
Nairobi.
Kenya is among the three countries in sub-Saharan Africa
where Slovakia has diplomatic missions, alongside South Africa and
Nigeria, highlighting the close bilateral relations.
“The balance of trade between Kenya and Slovakia is
in favour of Slovakia and the talks will partly focus on getting more
Kenyan goods into the Slovakia market,” the State House said in a
statement.
This marks the first time a sitting Slovak
president is visiting Kenya. Exports of Kenyan goods to Slovakia are not
captured in the public data provided by the Kenya National Bureau of
Statistics—signaling a small export market.
Conducive business climate
State House said Nairobi will tap into Slovakia’s
experience in food and beverages, electricity, nuclear fuel, alongside
gas and oil – an area Kenya seeks to venture into with the expected
small-scale crude exports from June.
The Slovak Republic is a high-income advanced economy with one of the fastest growth rates in the European Union.
The economy is mainly driven by foreign direct
investments (FDI), meaning it offers a conducive business climate that
pulls in multinationals.
Kenya is also seeking foreign investors, promising
cheaper electricity and hassle-free business registration, to emerge as
the preferred investment destination in the region.
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