Achieving development necessitates setting clear goals, having effective implementation strategies and ability to take difficult decisions.

Devadas Krishnadas, the chief executive officer of Future-Moves Group (FMG), made the remarks while addressing Huye District leaders and officials from the Rwanda Governance Board (RGB).

The Singapore native was sharing lessons from Singapore’s evolution from a developing nation into a developed one.

 The meeting which took place in Huye last Friday, aimed to discuss Huye’s development into a secondary city, along with Rubavu, Musanze, Nyagatare, Muhanga and Rusizi.  

 Krishnadas told the gathering that the most important aspect of the development of Singapore was "foresight”. 

"Because we are a small country, if we had accepted the circumstances which we found ourselves in 50 years ago, we could not accomplish what we had.  Today, our GDP income per capita is $65,000 per person. If you set objectives, then you must prepare to take difficult decisions to achieve them. There is no easy way to development,” he noted.

 Safety and security, good and reliable infrastructure, including energy, were critical in Singapore’s ability to attract investors, he said.

 The Huye vice Mayor for Finance and Economic Development, Cyprien Mutwarasibo said the district aimed to have 35 per cent of its residents living in the city in the next five years.

 Currently 16 per cent of Huye District residents live within town.

 "But those people will not come in the city for the sake of living in the city only; they will need jobs to do, which will necessitate creation of employment. So, it will require setting up industries that will attract people to live and work in the city,” he said.

He said the district has provided 50 hectares of land for an industrial park. "What remains is to woo investors to bring their industries here,” he said.

 Prof. Anastase Shyaka, RGB chief executive officer, said the government targets to have 30 per cent of the population living in urban areas.

"The country’s initiatives, be it EDPRS II or Vision 2020, have put attention on developing cities and making them the trigger of development,” he said.