Rwanda has continued to make remarkable progress in development and the United Kingdom will continue to support the processes.

This was said by the UK Secretary of State for International Development, Andrew Mitchell, yesterday, after calling on President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro.

Mitchell, who is in the country to join over 100 fellow Conservatives on the party’s Project Umubano for voluntary service, said that the country has indeed made huge strides and as one of the biggest donors to Rwanda, the UK is impressed.

"We discussed the very close development relationship which Britain has with Rwanda, which goes from strength to strength,” Mitchell said.

"We are clearly seeing tremendous results on the ground... Rwanda is making huge progress on development and both President Kagame and I reflected a deep sense of satisfaction,” he added.

The UK Minister said that the talks also focussed on the development of the country’s private sector and the importance of increasing foreign investments into Rwanda.

"It is very noticeable that the World Bank Index of countries where it’s easy to do business in, Rwanda has moved up very substantially this year,”

"The commercial courts which give people satisfaction that they will be treated fairly in terms of their investment. That’s another area where Rwanda has made progress. Attracting in new investment, boosting the private sector is one of the key ways of the country lifting itself out of poverty,” he said.

"The relationship between Rwanda and the UK is a close and deep one and it is above all on development where Rwanda and Britain are strong partners. We benefit from that as a country as well because the great prosperity in Rwanda benefits Britain.”

The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, John Rwangombwa, observed that Mitchell is in the country in two capacities; as the Minister of International development and as a member of Umubano Project.

"He briefed the Head of State on the different activities of the conservatives in the country for the two weeks they have been here, but most importantly, the talks were centred on the mutual cooperation between Rwanda and the UK,” Rwangombwa said.

He noted that the UK expressed great interest in supporting the growth of the private sector and promoting investment.

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