Turkish investors eye Rwanda market

A 10-personTurkish business delegation on Monday arrived in Kigali on a three-day trade and investment mission to engage government and the local private sector with a view to identify opportunities available in the country. The mission led by Hakan Cinar of Cinar&Cinar, a Turkish law firm, was organised by the Rwanda Mission in Ankara in collaboration with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB). The delegation is composed of business leaders with interests ranging from energy, mineral exports, agriculture, manufacturing, construction, metal extrusions and roofing materials, legal consulting, building materials (marble) and health services. The delegation will kick off today with a meeting with the CEO of RDB, Francis Gatare and will also meet Francois Kanimba, the Minister of Trade, Industry and East African Community Affairs, reads a statement from the Rwandan embassy in Turkey. The group will also meet the Kigali of City Mayor, Monique Mukaluriz, among other officials. Besides official meetings, the delegation is also expected to hold a series of Business-to-Business (B2Bs) with local entrepreneurs with shared interests in energy, mineral exports, agriculture, manufacturing, construction, among others. They are expected to complete their mission with a visit to the Virunga National Park to track the mountain gorillas. The current mission follows a 25-person business delegation that visited Rwanda two months ago and is a reflection of growing interest of Turkish entrepreneurs in Rwanda. Commercial engagements between Rwanda and Turkey have been encouraged by the signing of an MoU on Economic Cooperation as well as an agreement on Reciprocal Protection and Promotion of Investments in Istanbul last month by Kanimba and Turkey’s Economy Minister, Nihat Zeybekci, reads the statement. The two countries have also initiated negotiations for a Double Taxation Agreement (DTA) and Turkey’s negotiating team is expected in Kigali next week to engage their counterparts at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. Once in place, the DTA will bolster Turkish investor confidence in Rwanda. To date, Turkish investors in Rwanda are involved in projects valued at around $400 million while in 2015, Turkey’s exports to Rwanda stood at $30 million, pointing at a vast room for improvement in both volume of investment and trade. Editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Turkish investors eye Rwanda market