GASABO - In a move to become a regional hub in the service sector, Rwanda is shifting from agrarian to a knowledge-based economy, the Secretary General in the Ministry of Commerce, Antoine Ruvebana has said.

He said this Tuesday while making a presentation on a two-day workshop on Liberalization of Services in the East African Community at La Palisse Hotel-Nyandungu.

The workshop organized by the Regional Integration Committee, aimed at formulating Rwanda’s position on liberalization of the service sector.

"The performance of the service sector is vital for economic growth and the eradication of poverty in developing countries. That is why, Rwanda is diversifying its economy by shifting from the traditional commodity base to a more sophisticated knowledge-based economy," Ruvebana revealed.

He added that there were many factors that favoured Rwanda becoming a regional hub. "Rwanda is strategically positioned geographically and has a singular potential of achieving this by vision 2020," Ruvebana added.

During the workshop the Governor of the Central Bank, Francois Kanimba, recommended that free movement of capital in the financial industry be accelerated.

"Free movement of capital is very important because the more you open foreign exchange markets, the more foreign exchange comes in," Kanimba said.

he added that there were no longer any restrictions on foreign banks operating in Rwanda.

"Access to financial services in Rwanda today is very small and the logic of encouraging other new banks to join in the industry is a welcome idea," Kanimba added. The two day workshop was held in collaboration with the Ministry of East African Community Affairs and institutions dealing in service sector.

Ends