President William Ruto has announced plans to visit Spain in a renewed bid to improve the bilateral trade relations between Kenya and the European country.

Speaking at a joint press briefing with Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at State House Nairobi on Wednesday, October 26, the Head of State said he will visit the country sometime next year after an invitation from Sánchez.

The visit and subsequent talks, Ruto said, will bring together business leaders from the private sector in the two countries.

“The invitation you have extended to me to come to Spain, I will in an affirmative way respond to it,” Ruto said.

“Ahead of my coming, we have agreed at the ministerial level we will have an engagement in Spain and my Minister for Foreign Affairs and come with our business fraternity so that we can have a business engagement between the private sector in Kenya and the private sector in Spain.”

The President said he looks forward to the two countries working on a common ground on how to leverage on good relations to build their economies.

At the same time, Ruto acknowledged the invite by PM Sánchez to the ‘Alliance against desertification’ that Spain is building with Senegal to tame climate change.

He promised to lead efforts to plant five billion trees in the next five years and 10 billion in ten years to combat climate change

“Thank you for inviting Kenya to the alliance against desertification that and I have committed that Kenya will join the alliance,” the President added.

“We have already taken the policy direction that we are going to plant 5 billion trees in the next five years and another 10 billion trees in the next ten years. That is going to contribute significantly to the fight against desertification and the challenges that come with climate change.”

Sánchez arrived in the country on Tuesday for a two-day visit. He is the first-ever Spanish Prime Minister to visit Kenya.

“I am honoured to be the first Spanish Prime Minister to visit Kenya. We are looking forward to your visit to Spain as we strengthen our cooperation in many fields,” Sánchez said further pledging to continue building on good relations between Kenya and Spain.