THE Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources has sent four of its staff to Vietnam for postgraduate studies in Aquaculture and Fisheries as part of efforts to boost the fisheries sector. Jean Claude Ndorimana, Fidèle Kampayana, Stéphanie Kamondo and Aloys Musoni will fly out of the country this Sunday to pursue Masters degrees in the two disciplines at Nha Trang University in Vietnam’s city of Nha Trang.The Minister of Agriculture Dr. Agnes Kalibata says the quartet is expected to bridge the capacity gaps once they complete their studies."Although Rwanda has all the water resources it needs to compete in the fish industry, the country lacks the necessary skills to successfully create large fish businesses,” she said.According to the ministry, the governments of Rwanda and Vietnam have strong bilateral ties that made it possible for the four staff members of the ministry to go for further studies.The study programme is funded by the African Development Board (AfDB) through the PAIGELAC project under the agriculture ministry.Vietnam is ranked the second largest fish and sea food exporter in the world. In the last 20 years, Vietnam has successfully transformed into a middle-income country after surviving a difficult past. Rwanda has a huge opportunity to learn from Vietnam’s growth of the fish industry, since the two countries have similar landscapes. Kalibata emphasised that Vietnam has come as far as it has because of the determination of her people and urged Rwandans to borrow a leaf from them.She said: "Taking advantage of this education is a huge opportunity for the prospective students, the Ministry of Agriculture and the whole country. Vietnam uses inexpensive technology that farmers in Rwanda can easily adopt.  Rwanda has enormous potential in water resources that needs to be exploited in order to improve nutrition, income levels and the welfare of Rwandans.”