“Kenya is in the middle of a period of huge growth, and the UK is in prime position to support this growth and to help Kenya to become the regional and international business centre that it has the potential to be,” he added/PSCU
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 3 – British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond says UK firms have a huge appetite for the Kenyan market.
Speaking to the British Chamber of Commerce in Nairobi, Hammond says firms from the UK that have invested in Kenya have expressed desire to increase their investment in the market while other firms which have not invested, are seeking to make inroads.
“This is the second time I am visiting Kenya. UK is fortunate to have such a deep and long-standing relationship with Kenya. We are bound together by strong ties that benefit both our nations,” Hammond said on Friday Evening.
He says the UK is the largest cumulative investor in Kenya.
“Kenya is in the middle of a period of huge growth, and the UK is in prime position to support this growth and to help Kenya to become the regional and international business centre that it has the potential to be,” he added.
In 2015, exports from the United Kingdom stood at Sh40 billion a rise from the Sh35 billion recorded in 2014 according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
Value of imports in the same period under review was at Sh43 billion down from Sh47 billion recorded in 2014.
“There are projects that have been aligned to be aided by the British government, British companies could take advantage of this,” said Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed at the meeting.
The British Chamber of Commerce was instituted two years ago by the British Business Association of Kenya, with support from the UK Department of Trade and Investment.
Its purpose is to promote, represent and safeguard the business interests of British persons doing business or seeking to do business in Kenya or any person wishing to do or seeking to do business with anyone in the UK.
