Rwanda-South Korea Parliament relations budding

Senate Permanent Secretary, Sosthene Cyitatire, yesterday said that friendly constructive relations and cooperation between the Rwandan Parliament and South Korea’s National Assembly are growing. He revealed this during an interview at his offices in Kimihurura, adding that the two legislative houses’ Secretariats recently signed a Protocol on Cooperation in a meeting in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. “The relationship between Rwanda and South Korea has been on for a long time – about the past four to five years, but this relationship has recently been cemented by further relations between both countries’ Parliaments, which started last year,” Cyitatire said. “It started when Senator Aloysia Inyumba, while on a working visit in that country last year, requested to meet with their Parliament,” he said. The Protocol of Cooperation, which The New Times has seen, indicates that the parties agreed to implement several issues, including promotion of information exchanges on legislation materials and support for technologies and information concerning legislative support system. “The Parties shall build and bolster mutual collaboration in the framework of international organisations composed of parliaments around the world,” reads part of the Protocol. Cyitatire said that the relationship was re-strengthened by the donation of 104 computers by the South Korean parliament to the Rwandan parliament during the world Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) session. The computers are expected in the country some time in June. “We invited them to visit Rwanda, in a bid to further cement that relationship and, I would also note that they also invited our Parliament to attend the forthcoming Asia-Pacific meeting in South Korea.” The Asia-Pacific meeting is scheduled for July 7-11 in the South Korean capital Seoul and Rwanda is reportedly the only other non-member country invited. The Rwandan parliament also has special “formalised” cooperation arrangements with other parliaments including those from Burundi, Belgium, South Africa, Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany and Israel’s Knesset. Ends