The government of Korea, yesterday, pledged to continue working with Rwanda to continue improving the living standards of   local communities.

Kim Won Jin, the Director General of International Administrative Development Centre in the Korean Ministry of Public Administration and Security, said this during a meeting with the Minister of Local Government, James Musoni.

 Kim, who heads an 11-member delegation from Korea, is on a seven-day visit in the country to identify more areas of cooperation.

Korea, through Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) provides assistance, mainly, in the education, agriculture and ICT sectors.

Through the Ministry of Local Government, KOICA also initiated its housing program, New Village Program, all aimed at supporting poor communities.

New Village Program is currently implemented in Kagarama Village in Rugarika Sector, Kamonyi District where a health post and public hall were constructed to the tune of Rwf 80m, among others.

Two new villages – Mushimba and Gihogwe in Kamonyi are also scheduled to benefit from the program effective next month.

The visitors are also scheduled to tour Kirehe and Burera districts to identify other areas where the New Village Program could be initiated.

Rwanda and Laos in Asia are the only countries where the program is under implementation.

Kim noted that Korea and Rwanda have a lot in common, including strong and committed leadership and affective central governments, which, he said, are one of the major factors towards fast development. 

Musoni commended the Korean government for its support, noting that Rwandans, despite a dark past, decided to live a better life by initiating the Vision 2020 program with its slogan ‘One People, One Vision, One Nation, One Team.’

Under the Vision 2020 program, Musoni said, Rwanda developed a five-year term strategy on poverty reduction, the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS).

"So far, we have registered between 7 and 8 percent GDP growth,” he explained.

Musoni added that programs like VUP, one cow per poor family and Ubudehe were introduced to improve the living standards of poor communities.

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