Editor,

RE: "We chose to believe in Rwanda’s rebirth – Kagame” (The New Times, August 11).

Allow me to congratulate Bertin Makuza for putting up a new landmark, M.Peace Plaza, in the spotlessly clean City of Kigali, at an investment of $42 million. As Makuza very rightly remarked, the first investment was in the peace and security of the country.

And for this, we must resoundingly salute the visionary leadership of President Paul Kagame, who came into the limelight at a time when the country was in shambles, after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Just recently, the Indian Merchants’ Chamber received the Minister of Trade and Industry for South Australia and his 65-member delegation in Mumbai. Members of the delegation, whom I met, had a certain Genocide movie still engraved in their minds.

I did, of course, clarify that was history now, and we shall, indeed, soon have South Australian businessmen visiting Kigali to explore business and investment opportunities in various sectors.

President Kagame very rightly stressed the need for public-private partnerships. Involving, closely, the private sector, even in activities like familiarisation tours for top producing tour operators and inspection visits for potential investors, would definitely go a very long way in facilitating trade, tourism and investments into the ‘New Rwanda’!

Clarence Fernandes, Mumbai, India