Netherlands King, Queen visit Kenya

On their visit to Kenya, the Majesties King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands attended the inaugural Chief Executive Officers (CEO’s) Round-Table on ‘Doing Business in Kenya’ hosted by the Kenya–Dutch Business Forum. The Forum brought together 2-trade missions of 50 business leaders and close to 90 delegates drawn from various sectors of the Dutch Economy who were in Kenya to explore partnerships and investment opportunities with Kenyan companies for mutual and sustainable benefit. The delegation of Business leaders was led by Minister for Foreign Trade and Development for the Netherlands Ms. Reinette Klever. She asserted that Kenya remains a gate-way to Africa which presented enormous business opportunities. She confirmed that close to 150 companies were already operating in Kenya and there still remained opportunities for more companies to set up businesses for mutual benefit of the two-countries. The Minister revealed that the Netherlands was looking at having long-term beneficial relationships between the 2 countries. While representing Cabinet Secretary Lee Kinyanjui of the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, PS Abubakar Hassan Abubakar revealed that Kenya had a 5-point Investment Retention Strategy as an after-care program for investors. The strategies are: diplomatic economic focus; investor ready business environment; public-private partnership; supportive institutional framework and ensuring all leads turn into contacts, connections and contracts. PS Abubakar revealed that Kenya was the 3rd largest exporter of flowers in the world to the European Union.