Kenya is considering Singapore's strategic location in South East Asia as a gateway to its products, aiming to expand lucrative markets for its agricultural produce, according to President William Ruto.
Ruto emphasized that South Asia, comprising ten countries with a population of approximately 670 million, presents Kenya with a "unique and massive" market for its goods.
The president extended an invitation to Singapore's private sector to invest in Kenya's under-exploited transport and logistics sectors, aiming to increase trade volumes and enhance investments.
“This will check the low trade volumes and scale up our investments, thereby reducing the current trade deficit with Singapore,” Ruto said.
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Ruto made these statements during a press conference at State House in Nairobi, alongside Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
The two leaders had previously engaged in bilateral talks and witnessed the signing of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) in the areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), climate change, and skills development.
Regarding the ICT agreement, Ruto highlighted its role in facilitating cooperation on cybersecurity, digitization of government services, and capacity building in ICT.
The MoU on skills development aims to foster collaboration in human resource capacity building for civil servants and students.
Lee acknowledged the signing of a climate change pact, which will contribute to collective action in addressing the "greatest existential threat to mankind."
He expressed appreciation for the strong and cordial relations between Singapore and Kenya and emphasized the need to further strengthen economic opportunities to promote shared prosperity.
“Our ties have been growing. We will further this by pursuing more economic opportunities that will stimulate our shared prosperity,” Loong said.