KIGALI - A workshop that could improve the volume of international trade opened Monday at the School of Finance and Banking (SFB) in Kigali.

Several senior managers from various public and private institutions in the country are attending the two-week training, aimed at enlightening them on foreign trade issues.

The training is being conducted by professors from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), together with SFB.
According to Prof. Deepak Bhatnagar, the head of Centre for International Trade in Technology at the Foreign Trade Institute based in New Delhi, the training will enable participants to share experiences.    

"We are expecting to learn a lot from Rwanda. I was reading from one of your websites and learnt that Rwanda has a lot of potential and natural resources that can be explored internationally, minerals like Tin, Tungsten and others. These are products that can have added value to compete on the international market,” Bhatnagar told The New Times.

He added that they will also share experience on how India managed to overcome economic challenges and how foreign trade can be conducted effectively.

India has been listed among the few countries that have had the least economic recession.

An associate professor of the same institute, Sanjay Rastogi, added that Rwanda can benefit from trade links with Indian investors involved in areas like mining.
Reid Whitlock, the Rector of SFB, underscored the need to equip traders with knowledge about international trade.

"We have a way to go before many of our nervous exporters understand the importance of international trade regime, quality control, pricing and currency fluctuations,” Whitlock said.

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