Japanese city of Kobe seeks stronger ties with Kigali

The City of Kigali and Kobe, the sixth-largest city in Japan, are set to work out a fundamental partnership after a high-level delegation arrived in Kigali on Monday. An eight-member delegation from different private companies and government led by Shigenori Tanabe, the director of economic planning, Kobe City government, visited the Mayor of City of Kigali’s office. While in Rwanda, the delegation will visit several companies and government institutions across the country, including, University of Rwanda, Zipline, a coffee farm in Rwamagana supported by Japanese volunteers, and special economic zone. The visitors yesterday attended a business matching session at ICT Chamber of the Private Sector Federation (PSF). According to Robert Ford, vice president of the ICT Chamber, the relationship between Kobe and Kigali started in 2015 at the World Economic Forum that took place in Kigali. The mayor of Kobe and his delegation of 15 signed a declaration of cooperation between Kigali and Kobe outlining two areas of cooperation in water and sanitation. Under the understanding, Kigali city will acquire technology from Kobe to improve the water and sanitation in the city. The ICT chamber also has a special relationship with the city of Kobe under which 30 Rwandan students have benefited from the African Business Education Initiative for Youth, or ABE initiative. Three business delegates from Rwanda in business technologies have visited Kobe and Japan in general and three business delegations from Kobe have visited Kigali from different companies. Tanabe noted that although the visit of Rwandan delegates to Japan was a short period, it was a good opportunity to build a relationship and exchange valuable ideas with government and private companies.

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Japanese city of Kobe seeks stronger ties with Kigali