NAIROBI - The Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Climate Facility (ICF), Omar Issa, has commended the progress Rwanda has registered in dealing with the backlog of commercial disputes.

While delivering a keynote presentation on fighting counterfeits in East Africa at the 2nd East African Investment Conference in Nairobi, Issa noted that Rwanda had cleared within a short time the cases that had piled in the past years.

The commercial courts which started operating in Rwanda last year are partly facilitated by the ICF.

"I take this opportunity to congratulate the Government of Rwanda in not only clearing the backlog of cases that existed two years ago but also clearing another 1,000 commercial disputes that arose ever since we signed the agreement in 2007," the ICF boss said.

Issa, whose organisation works to remove the barriers to doing business in Africa, added that their entry into Rwanda was purposely to help in clearing the cases so as to build trust in investors willing to do business in the country.

In his presentation, the ICF boss decried the high percentage of counterfeits in the region, calling for collective efforts in dealing with the problem.

"We need to tackle this problem at a regional level. We have been working with the East African Community (EAC) in the last one year and we know what is happening in each and every country,” he said.

He said that the fighting counterfeits needs a common policy and common legislation among partner states of the bloc to enable easy tracking of the vice.

Henry Gaperi, the Director General of the Social Security Fund of Rwanda who was among keynote presenters, told the conference that the region's competitiveness can only be increased through cooperation among member states in dealing with different challenges.

"Complacency is an enemy of catching up and I urge everybody here not to look back because somebody might be gaining up on you,” Gaperi told the conference.

The conference will be closed today by Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Ends