Kenya hopes to boost exports to China- Kenyatta

Kenya is hoping to boost its economic growth by strengthening cooperation with China.

President Uhuru Kenyatta said he’s looking at opportunities for more Kenyan products to reach the Chinese markets.

Kenyatta made the remarks ahead of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, scheduled on September 3 and 4.

“I want to continue focusing on infrastructure development. I want to look forward to attracting Chinese investment to Kenya. But I’m also keen to see how we can begin working on reducing our trade deficit by increasing opportunities for more Kenyan products, also to access the Chinese market. So, I think these are the areas for me that will be of key focus while in China,” he said.

Kenya is one of the main beneficiaries of the $60 billion pledged by Beijing at the last China-Africa forum held in Johannesburg in 2015. Kenyatta also said , he’s determined to improve infrastructural development.

“The priorities we put forward are rail development, was a key among it. We had the railway, we also were focusing ourselves on continuing to expand our road network, as well as our energy to achieve our objective of universal coverage, so these are areas that we are still focused on, even now,” Kenyatta said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will chair the forum themed ‘China and Africa: Toward an Even Stronger Community with a Shared Future through Win-Win Cooperation’.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will be a special guest at the forum.

Reuters