Rwanda needs to invest more in skills development and search for new markets to ensure sustainable growth of the manufacturing sector, Turkish industrialists have advised.

"This ultimately will, not only promote quality and value-addition, but will also reduce the cost of production by availing industrialists with cheap skilled labour,” Eral Muhtar, managing director Erbagci Industries Limited, told Business Times on the sidelines of the just-concluded East-Turkey trade mission in Garlinge, Turkey. 

He added that there was also need to ensure that industrialists get cheap energy, technology and markets for their products.

"You have to create markets by embracing quality and promoting the ‘Made in Rwanda’ brand,” Muhtar said.

The East Africa-Turkey trade mission and exhibition that ended on February 19 was organised by the Confenderation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey (Tuskon), and drew participants from across Africa. It aimed at creating trade and investment opportunities between Turkey and Africa. 

Rizanur Meral, the president of Tuskon, noted that sustainable industrial development requires collaboration between private and public entities.

He further stressed the need for industrialists to understand the dynamics of global trade and market preferences.

"If you don’t follow market trends, you will produce what is not needed by the market and make losses,” Meral told Rwandan manufacturers.

According to Vincent Gakwandi, director of Top Fleight Clearing Agency, the question of lack of skilled personnel should be addressed at the grassroots level.

"Universities, tertiary institutions and vocational training colleges should equip students with the right market-driven hands-on skills; this could make a big difference in the near future,” Gakwandi said.

Gakwandi also called on industrialists to embrace information and communication technologies, arguing that this will help cut the cost of production.

"The initial cost might be expensive, but in the long-run you beneifit.”

Rwanda’s manufacturing sector currently accounts for 19.2 per cent of the overall Gross Domestic Product. And, a plan to boost the sector was recently launched by the Rwanda Manufacturers Association.