President Kenyatta receives Slovakia President Andrej Kiska

President Andrej Kiska of Slovakia was this morning accorded a formal welcome with full military honours complete with a 21-gun salute on the second day of his State visit.

President Kiska, who becomes the first Slovak Head of State to make a State Visit to Kenya, was received by President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House, Nairobi.

The Slovak leader – who arrived in the country yesterday (Sunday) at the start of the State Visit, began the second day of his visit by laying a wreath at the mausoleum of the founding father of the nation, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta.

From the mausoleum, President Kiska proceeded to State House for the formal reception where the national anthems of Kenya and Slovakia were played by the Kenya Defence Forces band, followed by the firing of 21 cannon shots before he inspected a guard of honour mounted by a detachment of the Kenya Army.

Thereafter, President Kenyatta and the Slovak president held one-on-one talks before they led their delegations in bilateral talks that will partly focus on getting Kenyan goods into the Slovakia market, a move aimed at bridging the balance of trade, which is currently in favour of the Slovak Republic.

The Slovak Republic is a high-income advanced economy with one of the fastest growth rates in the European Union. According to the 2015 estimates, the country’s GDP is USD138.277 billion while the GDP per capita stands at USD25,525.

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.

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