Hungarian President meets Kenyan counterpart in Nairobi

Kenya wants to strengthen its presence in central Europe and is ready to open a diplomatic representation in Budapest as soon as possible, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta told Hungarian counterpart János Áder in Nairobi on Monday.

Áder is the first Hungarian president to visit Kenya since it gained independence.

At a joint press conference following a closed-door meeting, the two presidents said that Áder’s visit served to intensify bilateral cooperation.

Áder said Kenya had recently become a tourism, financial, trade, and diplomatic centre of the region, with a population increase and an massive rise in living standards. Ensuring high quality food supplies is high among the country’s priorities, he added.

Some 40 percent of the total population and over 70 percent of people living in rural areas make a living from farming, he noted.

“So it is in their fundamental interest to obtain modern skills and technologies, which Hungarian companies can supply,” Áder said.

Hungary is ready to transfer know-how and technologies for animal farming, breeding and growing plants that tolerate hot climates, as well as for food processing, he added.

Referring to a cashew farm project launched in Kenya with a 2 million euro grant from the Visegrad Group, Áder said the venture contributed to providing livelihoods to 50,000 residents in four locations.

The two presidents referred to projects in Kenya aided by the Hungary Helps programme, noting that five had been completed while a further six were being planned. Áder is scheduled to visit one of the projects on the outskirts of Nairobi, a parish and training centre, later during his stay.

The Kenyan president thanked Hungary for a tied aid loan of 50 million dollars for health, agricultural and irrigation projects.

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