Korea Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon
is in the country for a two-day official visit.
He was received at JKIA by Foreign Affairs CS Monica Juma and her ICT counterpart Joe Mucheru
Ambassador Kwon Young Dae said during the visit, the Prime Minister will meet President Uhuru Kenyatta for bilateral talks on Saturday and have luncheon with DP William Ruto.
He will also meet the Korean community in Kenya,
the Korea International Cooperation Agency
alumni and grace the Korea-Kenya Business Forum on Friday at the Villa Rosa Kempinski.
His delegation will comprise executives from Korean giants such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai, among other 30 companies.
With the visit, South Korea appears to join other Asian economic giants in strengthening business ties with the region's economic powerhouse.
Ambassador Kwon said,"The bilateral talks will focus on how Korea can contribute to President Kenyatta's Big Four agenda in areas of manufacturing healthcare and food security".
Lee will visit the Korea Project on International Agriculture
centre based in Muguga, Limuru, which the ambassador said
was instrumental in the development of the new potatoes varieties, whose seeds are now available to farmers.
Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam mid-last month met government leaders in Kenya and Rwanda, as part of what Singapore's The Straight Times newspaper said was "deepening engagements in the growing Sub-Saharan Africa region".
In response to the Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency, which has had a long presence in Kenya, Singapore opened its regional business office in Nairobi during the visit.
Malaysia has been enhancing its business ties with Kenya, with the total trade between the two countries increasing by more than double from $184.71 million in 2016 to $251.6 million last year.
The Korean government has partnered with Kenya to improve agricultural technology and to boost crop production by helping farmers adopt modern farming technology.
"We are also big in technology and we would want help in that area," the ambassador said.
In May 2016, former South Korean President Park Geun-Hye made a two-day visit in Nairobi and signed several bilateral pacts towards the improvement of health, education, energy, ICT and industrialisation sectors.
In one of the deals,
Korea Export-Import Bank was to pump an initial Sh5 billion to support the agricultural sector towards food security.
"The agreements will boost the country’s efforts to become an economic, industrial and technological powerhouse in the region," State House said at the time.
For instance, Korea has donated bicycles pedal-driven machines, also known as Kopia Talgoki thresher, which helps farmers who thresh their produce manually faster.
The country has also helped poultry farmers in Kiambu, Machakos and Kirinyaga counties to increase the bird population and increase income.
It has also sponsored extension officers to Korea, where they gain skills and knowledge come back and train the farmers in adopting the new farming technologies in poultry keeping and in the potato farming.
"We are now looking to phase two of the Terem – Chwele –Nalondo Water supply project in Bungoma county," Kwon said.