KIGALI- Exports increased by 23.8 percent in 2010 and contributed to the national economy an estimated $454 million, compared to US$366 million realized in 2009, indicating steady growth in the trade and manufacturing sector.

This was revealed yesterday by John Gara, the CEO of RDB, during a press brief that reflected the performance of RDB in the previous year.

In his remarks, Gara reported that tourism dominated with 44 percent of the total exports, followed by mining and coffee which contributed 14.9 and 12.35 percent respectively.

"Besides introducing business development centres around the country that facilitate SMEs to access finances, RDB also supported about 40 local companies in the promotion of their products and brands abroad,” Gara said.

"We started with very ambitious but achievable targets to promote the government’s vision of creating private sector driven economy, that will enable Rwanda become a leading destination for investment.”

RDB statistics indicate that imports in 2010 increased by 11.4 percent, estimated at US$ 1.3 million compared to US$ 1.2 million in 2009.

"We embarked on a number of initiatives that improved doing business in Rwanda; particularly, the establishment of a one-stop construction permit centre to ease construction processes and save time for clients,” Gara added.

"Registering a business can happen in one day now. A company may be incorporated remotely or abroad without necessarily coming to Rwanda by registering online.”

Gara mentioned that RDB’s strategy this year is to attract investment from new economic power houses in Asia, as well as improve regulatory and legal reforms that support the growth of the private sector.

"Looking forward to 2011, we have raised the bar to focus on increasing tourism revenues to $216 million and attracting investment projects worth $ 550 million,” he said.

According to 2010 World Bank Doing business Report, Rwanda was ranked 2nd global reformer out of 183 countries.

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