A Swedish truck and bus-making firm, Scania Transport Company, will soon open a subsidiary plant in Kigali, the Swedish Ambassador to Rwanda, Anna Brandt, has said.

She was speaking yesterday after meeting with Foreign Affairs minister Dr Charles Murigande.

"Kenya Grange which represents Scania in the region, will start on this project soon,” Brandt, who is also the Swedish Ambassador to Kenya and Burundi, said.

She could however not say whether it will be an assembling plant or when the exactly the project would kick off.
Resident in Nairobi, Brandt has been leading a Swedish trade delegation including representatives of 15 Swedish companies dealing in energy, health, transport, consultancy firms and other security technology.

She said more Swedish firms would start operations in Rwanda. Scania develops, manufactures and sells buses and trucks with a gross vehicle weight of more than 16 tonnes (Class 8), intended for long-distance haulage, regional and local distribution of goods as well as construction haulage.

Murigande said that the relationship between the two countries was now broadening from a ‘government-to-government relationship’ to encompass the private sector and the civil society.  

He said Sweden is one of the countries that stood by Rwanda following the 1994 Genocide.  

The Swedish delegation which concluded its three-day tour of the country yesterday met President Paul Kagame on Wednesday at Village Urugwiro.

Ambassador Brandt said their meeting with the President was in the spirit of exploring investment opportunities available in Rwanda.

She told reporters: "We are very much contented with investment opportunities in Rwanda and I have no doubt that these businessmen will come back to the country to do business.”

"The business environment here is very good and the regulations that the government has put in place to facilitate trade are favorable,” she added.

She said that their meeting with Kagame also covered bilateral ties between the two countries. The delegation’s visit is part of their regional mission that has also covered Burundi and Tanzania.

They said they were looking forward to trade and partnership with their Rwandan counterparts in energy, mining, agriculture, construction, health and civil security businesses. And a workshop has been organized to bring together Rwandan businesspersons and government actors in the corresponding sectors above.

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