[Ambassador Andrew Kihurani Photo: State House]
President Uhuru Kenyatta is scheduled to open a new chancery in the Swiss Capital of Bern, to enhance trade ties between Kenya and Switzerland.
Ambassador Andrew Kihurani says the opening will revitalize the bilateral trade, with Kenya’s exports standing at 4.8 billion shillings and imports from Switzerland standing at 8 billion annually.
According to Kihurani, Kenya has continued to increase its export of coffee, tea and horticultural produce.
“Another primary issue we engage in is promotion of trade. You may be aware that there’s significant bilateral trade between the two countries. Kenya is Switzerland’s 16th biggest trading partner in Africa,” said Kihurani.
Imports from Switzerland to Kenya include herbicides, fungicides, chemicals, paints, machinery and pharmaceuticals.
“So our mandate is to be able to see how to enhance that trade between the two countries. Not only in terms of the volume but also in terms of the breadth, to see what other different items we can be able to trade between the two countries,” he added.
Kihurani further says that the two countries have had significant cooperation in the tourism sector, noting that Kenya used to receive over 9,000 tourists annually from Switzerland prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.