SIX ENVOYS representing Morocco, Namibia, Sweden, Canada, Korea and United Arab Emirates (UAE), yesterday, presented their credentials to President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro.

Of the six, Youssef Imani (Morocco), Jenny Ohlsson (Sweden) and Kim Eun-joong (South Korea) are based in Kigali. Ohlsson is Sweden’s first resident

ambassador in Rwanda.

Sara Hradecky (Canada), Therese Samaria (Namibia) and Abdullah Mohammed Abdullah Al-Takawi (UAE) are based in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, respectively.

Addressing the media shortly after meeting President Kagame, Ohlsson said Sweden’s decision to send a resident ambassador to Rwanda was a sign of a stronger relationship between the two countries.

"Being the first Swedish resident ambassador in Rwanda and the decision to send a resident ambassador is a sign of a broadening and deepening relationship. In September 2007, Sweden opened a small office in a hotel in Kigali and today, we have 19 staff members,” she said.

She said that although the two countries have similar values, Rwandans’ determination to move forward was an inspiration to many all over the world.

"We vote along similar lines in the United Nations and we have the same policy on issues such as gender, climate change and sustainable development. Both our countries cooperate in many areas like entrepreneurship, democracy, research, higher education, human rights and there is also increased interest in Swedish business community by Rwandans and also the political area in terms of global issues,” Ohlsson said.

On his part, Al-Takawi applauded the country’s rule of law, saying that the fact that there is zero tolerance to corruption is very important for the business world and encourages business entities to be interested in doing more.

"We discussed the relationship between our two countries, especially trade and investment. We have had many trade delegations coming here but more are coming. We are looking at Rwanda as an important country to relate with in Africa,” he said.

Korea focus on Rural devt

Korea’s Kim Eun-joong said, as his country’s new envoy to Rwanda, he was determined to work toward strengthening the existing bilateral cooperation.

"We are focusing our bilateral cooperation on three fields; human resource development, ICT and rural development. I would like to put emphasis on rural development projects and also exchange of high level government officials,” he said.

Canada’s Hradecky spoke of both countries’ mutual commitment to peace keeping, saying Rwanda is such an important contributor to peacekeeping efforts.

"Bilaterally, we have a number of areas of common interest. We partner together on a number of areas of development cooperation, economic growth initiatives that tie into the Rwandan Vision 2020 and these include education, health, economic empowerment and growth,” Hradecky said.

"I am hoping that I can get to talk to a few ministers and business people to exchange ideas. Rwanda is a landlocked country, we have a port. You are blessed with rain and agricultural products and we have two deserts. So there is a lot we can share,” she said.

After the ceremony, President Kagame hosted the diplomats to a luncheon at Kigali Convention Centre.

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