The Islamic Republic of Iran will set up the Iranian House of Innovation and Technology in Nairobi to offer a platform of interaction for Iranian and Kenyans businesses, and a hub for young Kenyan techies to get acquainted with latest Iranian technology.
This announcement was made by President William Ruto on Wednesday at State House in Nairobi, after meeting his Iranian counterpart Ebraim Raisi who is in Kenya for a state visit.
“This is an innovative way of enabling enterprises to access Iranian technologies, skills and information,” President Ruto said.
He observed, Kenya will exploit the strong ties it enjoys with Iran to expand trade between the two countries in a bid to give Kenyan products a wider global market, noting that trade volumes between Kenya and Iran are still low but have a huge potential to grow.
“This will bring about the much-desired trade balance that is in favour of Iran.”
During the meeting, Kenya and Iran agreed to a formula that will see Kenyan farmers have higher exports of tea, coffee and meat to Iran.
Ruto and Raisi also witnessed the signing of new MoUs and agreements in the areas of agriculture, livestock, culture and heritage, information, ICT, fisheries, housing, urban and metropolitan development.
Kenya has lauded Iran’s support in health, terming it a critical step towards the realisation of the Universal Health Coverage while Iran, on its part, appreciated Kenya’s commitment to creating a friendly environment for foreign businesses.
President Raisi will be in Uganda and Zimbabwe next, after Kenya, on his three-state tour of Africa.
