Slovak president visits Kenya over trade ties

Slovak President Andrej Kiska has began a three-day official visit to Kenya that will see him hold bilateral talks with his host, President Uhuru Kenyatta, and seek ways of expanding trade ties.

Kiska, who becomes the first Slovak's head of state to make a state visit to Kenya, arrived in the country late on Sunday at the start of the state visit. On Monday, he began the second day of his visit by laying a wreath at the mausoleum of the founding father of the nation, Jomo Kenyatta.

From the mausoleum, President Kiska proceeded to State House where he held a one-on-one talks with Kenyatta before they led their delegations in bilateral talks that will partly focus on getting Kenyan goods into the Slovakia market, a move aimed at bridging the balance of trade which is currently in favor of the Slovak Republic.

The Slovak Republic is a high-income advanced economy with one of the fastest growth rates in the European Union. According to the 2015 estimates, the country's GDP is 138.277 billion U.S. dollars while the GDP per capita stands at 25,525 dollars.

Major industries in Slovakia include metal and metal products, paper and printing, food and beverages, electricity, gas, oil, nuclear fuel, transport vehicles, textiles, electrical and optical apparatus, rubber, and machinery.

Kenya is one of the three countries in Sub-Saharan Africa where Slovakia maintains diplomatic missions; others are South Africa and Nigeria. Endit