The Business community in Eastern Province has been urged to put their efforts together to fully explore untapped opportunities and shift from informal to formal business.

The call was made by officials on Saturday during the closure of a weeklong civic education at National Ubutore Development Centre - Nkumba, in Burera District.

Officials urged the participants to create joint projects which can benefit them other than working individually.

The province is endowed with some opportunities such as proximity to three member states of the East African Community, low population density (275 people per square kilometre), which can facilitate modern agriculture, officials said, noting that such factors can be explored to develop the country.

Emmanuel Hategeka, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said there was no other way to grow the economy if the private sector do not put their efforts together and work hard.

 "It requires hard work, team work and commitment to become international business people and build a sustainable economy,” Hategeka added.

Odette Uwamariya, the Eastern Province governor, said the private sector has shown its commitment to develop the province but there is still need for more efforts to take the province to the next level.

"Business people have the will and the capacity. With our commitment I am optimistic we can do more to ensure that we develop our province and the country as a whole,” Uwamariya said.

Participants committed to work together for self and national development.

Fabrice Habanabakize, the president of Private Sector Federation in the province, pledged they would join hands.

"We have acquired additional skills in doing business. We hope to work together to explore the untapped opportunities in our province and work on big projects that will create more jobs for many unemployed people,” said Habanabakize.

Earlier, business development advisers were trained on how to help small and medium enterprises assess their projects.