President William Ruto has asked Dutch businessmen to invest in Kenya's micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.
The President stated on Monday, at a meeting with a group of investors in the Netherlands, that the government is committed to making Kenya an appealing investment destination.
Ruto stated that the administration had put incentives to entice international investors.
He stated that the government is improving its one-stop shop to make it easier for investors to do business in the country.
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"We have taken measures to implement reforms in order to attract foreign direct investments," he stated.
Among the initiatives, he highlighted are resolving the bureaucratic Value Added Tax (VAT) returns and upgrading the country's one-stop-shop facility to make doing business in Kenya easier for investors.
He spoke at a business summit in The Hague, Netherlands, which brought together investors worldwide.
Ruto's administration has pledged to build 1 million safe, habitable, secure, and cheap housing units by 2027.
Kenya's annual housing need is predicted to be 250 000 units. With only 50 000 new dwellings built each year, there is a yearly housing gap of 80%.
The government's objective of delivering 500 000 units has gone short, with fewer than 10% of anticipated units provided by 2022.
Ruto also urged investors to invest in preventative healthcare, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and the creative sector. He arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday after flying from the United Kingdom, where he had attended King Charles III's coronation on Saturday. He was also due to meet with King Willem-Alexander before flying to Israel at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request.
Kenya is the Netherlands' most important East African trade partner and the world's cut flower and buds for bouquets centre.
According to the United Nations COMTRADE database, the Netherlands imported $324.6 million (Sh44 billion) in commodities in 2022.
The President will subsequently go to Israel, where bilateral talks are expected to focus on agriculture, notably restoring the Galana Kulalu irrigation project, which was halted in 2019 owing to financial mismanagement.
