URUGWIRO VILLAGE - Five envoys accredited to Rwanda, yesterday, presented their credentials to President Paul Kagame, at Village Urugwiro.

The envoys included the High Commissioners of Australia, United Kingdom and the Ambassadors of China, Turkey and Djibouti.

The new Chinese envoy, Shu Zhan told journalists, after presenting his papers, that he will embark on cementing the bilateral co-operation between Rwanda and China.

"We should make this kind of co-operation that exists between two countries sustainable, not only for trade, but try to share experiences, expertise and skills,” he said.
Shu noted that there are a number of areas where both countries can learn from each other, adding that they have learnt lessons from Rwanda, especially from the reconstruction of the country after 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

The new Djibouti envoy to Rwanda, Aden Houssein Abdilahi said that he would work hard to strengthen the existing relationship between two countries.

"We are going to find ways of how Rwanda and Djibouti Private Sector organs can work together and partner towards promoting trade between the two countries,” he added.

Abdilahi explained that Rwanda has a plot of land near the port of Djibouti and this presents a very big opportunity for the private sector from Rwanda to exploit through setting up their industrial units.

The Australian High Commissioner, Geoffrey Peter Tooth, pointed out that he was impressed by what he has seen and heard about Rwanda.

"When I was preparing to come to represent Australia, I did a lot of research and found out that there are so many connections between both countries. There are so many Australians working here in Rwanda and the Rwandan Community in Australia is doing good things as well,” he said, adding that he is going to promote Australia investment in Rwanda in the areas of mining, agriculture and the education sector.

"We are a very big investment country and we are the one of the world’s biggest mining and agricultural countries and these are the areas where we have technical capacity and expertise…I am really confident that in the coming years we shall see more Australian investments coming to Rwanda,” he explained.

Turkey’s Ambassador, Ahmet Melih, promised to explore all the avenues to improve the bilateral relations between both countries.

"Turkey has advanced technologies to offer to Rwanda and I will do a lot to champion technological development in Rwanda,” said Melih.

Benedict Llewellyn-Jones, the new UK High Commissioner said that he is committed to ensuring a strong and constructive relationship between UK and Rwanda.

"We are going to encourage investments from UK to Rwanda and I am very hopeful they will increase the business opportunities,” he noted.

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