Uhuru plans to open a new law office in Switzerland to improve commercial relations
President Uhuru Kenyatta will open a new chancellery in the Swiss capital Bern to strengthen trade ties between Kenya and Switzerland.
Speaking on President Kenyatta’s official visit to Switzerland, Ambassador Andrew Kihurani said the opening of the new chancellery will stimulate growing bilateral trade, which is on the up, with Kenya’s exports at Ksh 4.8 billion and imports from Switzerland at Ksh 8 billion yearly.
“Another major issue we are working on is promoting trade. You may know that there is significant bilateral trade between the two countries. Kenya is Switzerland’s 16th largest trading partner in Africa,” said Amb. Kihuran.
The Kenyan Ambassador pointed out that Kenya continued to increase its exports of coffee, tea and horticultural products despite the trade balance tilting in favor of Switzerland.
He added that bilateral trade will be substantial in 2021, with Kenya being Switzerland’s top source of cut flowers.
Imports from Switzerland to Kenya include herbicides, fungicides, chemicals, paints, machinery and pharmaceuticals.
“So our mission is to see how this trade between the two countries can be improved. Not only in terms of volume but also in terms of breadth to see what other different items we can trade between the two countries,” he added.
Ambassador Kihurani further said that the two nations had significant cooperation in the tourism sector, noting that Kenya received over 9,000 tourists from Switzerland annually before the Covid-19 pandemic.
He expressed hope that the ongoing Covid-19 vaccination process will revitalize the tourism sector as Kenya receives more and more tourists from Switzerland.
“Switzerland has vaccinated about 70% of its population and of course we continue to increase vaccination levels in Kenya. We expect tourism levels to increase again and it is the responsibility of this embassy to encourage the growth of this tourism exchange,” Amb Kihurani said.
The Kenyan envoy to Switzerland also indicated that President Kenyatta will visit Geneva, where he is expected to address the World Health Assembly on May 22.
He said the President’s address to the World Health Assembly will outline how Kenya has been at the forefront of promoting health problems around the world.
“The Geneva meeting is the World Health Assembly that takes place every year. And the meeting on this special occasion is being held by His Excellency the President.
“This will be the first time he addresses the congregation. This is important to show the support Kenya has for issues being discussed with the assembly on health,” he said.
That 75th World Health Assembly will begin on May 22 with a high-level segment featuring speeches from the President-elect of the Health Assembly, heads of state, distinguished guests and an address from the Director-General of WHO, as well as the presentation of the Director-General’s Health Awards.
The theme of this year’s World Health Assembly is “Health for Peace, Peace for Health”.