VILLAGE URUGWIRO - President Paul Kagame yesterday received a delegation of the Canadian-Africa Parliamentary Association at village Urugwiro.

The delegation which comprised of members of the Canadian Senate and Chamber of deputies arrived in the country on Wednesday.

Speaking to the press after meeting the president, Senator Raynell Andreychuk, the co-chair of the association said that they had a frank exchange with the president on bi-lateral cooperation between the two countries.

The Senator added that they also exchanged views on the development of Rwanda including trade and investment. She revealed that they also discussed world issues, including the crisis in Zimbabwe.

She said their visit to Rwanda had been very interesting and the fact that it has many women in parliament was a sign that women are engaged in decision making in the governance of Rwanda.

"You have achieved a level of women representation in parliament that we in Canada have not yet achieved” she said, adding that this was a good lesson they would take back home.

Andreychuck went on to say that the Canada-Africa Parliamentary Association is a group that aims to strengthen the parliamentary process in Africa. They also visited Kenya and Burundi before coming to Rwanda.

The delegation which leaves the country today  met earlier with Rwandan members of parliament and attended the opening session of the first East African Investment conference.

Antoine Somayire, a member of the Rwandan parliament who accompanied the delegation,said that the Canadian MP’s met people from all levels and had gotten a true picture of the country. He added that the Canadian MP’s were impressed with the progress that has been made since the 1994 Genocide.

Ends