The President of Slovakia, Andrej Kiska, jetted into the country on Monday for a three-day State Visit.

This is the first time a sitting Slovak President is making this visit.

He was received by his host President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi.

The two leaders led their respective delegations in bilateral talks.

Since then, Slovakia has remained one of Kenya’s most valuable and reliable allies.

The Slovak Republic is a high-income advanced economy with one of the fastest growth rates in the European Union.

Foreign Direct Investments

The economy has mainly been driven by Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). The country’s GDP is $138.277 billion (2015 estimates.) and GDP per capita stands at $25,525 (also 2015 estimates).

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.

During the three-day State Visit, Kenyan businesses will be looking to leverage the Slovak Republic’s areas of relative strength as the country looks to expand its basket of trading partners.

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

Balance of trade

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.

President Kenyatta is expected to cite Kenya’s central position in the East and Central Africa region as ideal for investors from the Slovak Republic to use as a launch pad to penetrate the enormous market of over 650 million people of the recently concluded Tripartite Free Trade Area arrangement which brings together three established Regional Communities of the East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).