Government and its partners will hold discussions to validate the country’s proposed Industrial Master Plan ahead of a six-week deadline for submission to cabinet, The New Times has learnt.

The workshop will help participants contribute ideas to the polishing of the proposal whose main objective is to help Rwanda achieve long term regional and global competitiveness through the improvement of manufacturing and related services.

Consultations to design the plan started in February this year and the Ministry of Trade and Commerce has a deadline to submit it before the end of the year. 

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, said that the plan will be a basis for planning and implementing strategic industrial policies to accelerate development.

"Working in uncertainties is not good because it leads to resource wastage. We need this Master Plan to guide us in identifying where we can channel our limited resources in order to have a huge impact in supporting our industrial development,” she told The New Times yesterday.

The ministry’s current research has shown that there are close to 3000 entities involved in manufacturing, most of them operating in the area of food processing.

Experts in a press briefing at Telecom House yesterday said that these manufacturers need to critically improve their competitiveness and target global markets for their sustainability and development.

"You must be able to compete because you are now operating in a global system where you get eliminated if you are not competitive,” said Emmanuel Karenzi, an agent of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in Rwanda.

He stressed the need for the Rwandan government to develop its industrial governance and be able to monitor its industrial trends. "The only way we can bring about growth and development in poor nations is by helping governments to support industrialisation,” he explained.

The Industrial Master Plan is expected to provide up-dated information about the country’s industries and suggest ways to manage and improve domestic trade as well as highlight investment opportunities in the sector.

The plan will be the first of its kind in Rwanda, a country that projects its economy to grow up to ten percent by the end of the year according to government sources.

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