Kenya and Germany have moved to strengthen ties in various sectors of the economy.
German ambassador to Kenya Sebastian Groth said there was a need for the two countries to partner in trade, education, tourism, agriculture, security and other areas of mutual interest.
Tracing the Kenya – Germany relations, he called for the two countries to enhance cooperation in a bid to build great partnerships.
Groth made the remarks when he led a delegation from Germany in paying a courtesy call to Speaker of National Assembly Moses Wetang’ula at his office.
The German delegation informed the Speaker they were on a visit to various counties including; Nakuru, Kisumu and Narok where they intend to find areas in which the two countries can partner.
The delegation expressed interest in empowering Kenyan youths with life skills to address unemployment rates in the country.
“In the last 10 years, we have built a lot of technical training institutes and vocational centres. We are now paying a lot of attention to post-high school training. We want the youth to have skills to help themselves become self-reliant,” he said.
Wetang'ula noted that as a former Foreign Affairs minister, he spearheaded bilateral engagements with Germany.
"Kenya is Germany’s most important trading partner in East Africa. Germany ranks top ten of Kenya’s export destinations. It is Kenya’s most important coffee destination for green/raw coffee globally," he said.
He observed that Germany was the first country to recognise Kenya after attaining independence and established a diplomatic Mission in Nairobi in 1963.
“As a country, we have gone through a lot of challenges that some have generated from the political instabilities and turbulences but we have managed to soldier on and demonstrate the East African spirit of resilience as manifested in the just concluded hotly contested but peaceful general elections,” said Wetang’ula.
The Speaker welcomed the youth empowerment programme saying the new government is focusing on providing credit to small businesses.