The Rwanda High Level Task Force for negotiating the East African Community (EAC) Monetary Union completed a week’s training on regional integration matters, particularly on harmonisation of trade, monetary and investment issues.

The skills training which ended last Friday aimed at equipping the team with negotiation skills to better sell Rwanda’s ideas and interests in the integration process.

The Minister of East African Affairs, Monique Mukaruriza, said it is important to empower negotiators with skills to best represent Rwanda’s position.

"Some of them are going to represent Rwanda for the first time and need this training to build their capacity,” Mukaruriza said

"Their arguments must be balanced, analytical, convincing and acceptable so that they can maximize the benefits from the integration.”

A statement from Trademark East Africa (TMEA), a body closely working with EAC to support the integration process, said that the negotiators focused on interpreting international agreements from a development dimension to improve Rwanda’s stand.

"Negotiators were provided with an executive course on international negotiations to provide specific skills and strategies for trade, monetary and investment negotiations,” the statement reads.

"This is just the beginning of a number of other capacity building activities planned in support of Rwanda in regional integration.”

The training was coordinated by MINEAC in partnership with Trademark East Africa (TMEA), and comes in the wake of the ongoing EAC negotiations on the Monetary Union Protocol.

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