Rwanda presents ‘tremendous’ investment opportunities that Singaporeans can exploit given the country’s need for their innovations, visiting chief of Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE) said Thursday.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SCE, an arm of the Singaporean government for cooperation and exchange of experience, Alphonsus Chia, made the statement after meeting President Paul Kagame in Urugwiro Village.

He said that Rwanda’s need for infrastructural and skills development present an opportunity for cooperation with Singapore.

"The opportunities are tremendous, you have a lot of potential in tourism, and hoteliers should consider investing in Rwanda…I understand that there are many natural places that could be great for eco-tourism, a lot of things,” he told journalists after holding talks with President Kagame.

He observed that possible areas of cooperation and investments in Rwanda for Singaporeans range from infrastructural design and development in urban housing, Information Communication Technology (ICT), and vocational training.

"We see a lot of opportunity here compared to other places in the region,” Chia said.

The CEO of Rwanda Development Board, Joe Ritchie, described Chia’s visit to Rwanda, the first in Africa, as a sign that Singaporeans have taken Rwanda ‘very seriously’. He admits that Singaporeans have a lot to bring to Rwanda especially in the hospitality industry and professional training.

"They [Singaporeans] have been extremely successful,” he said shortly after witnessing Chia’s talks with Kagame.

During his visit in Singapore in May last year, the Rwandan President invited business leaders in the country to explore opportunities that Rwanda and Africa offer as they register remarkable development and economic growth.

Rwanda plans to have put in place a knowledge-based economy by the year 2020 and raised the per capita income of its citizen to that of a middle-income country.

But a recent audit of national skills conducted by government’s Human Resources and Institutional Capacity Development Agency (HIDA) revealed a 40 per cent gap in the expertise required to achieve its development goals.

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