Rwandan diplomat Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye has presented his Letters of Credence to the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo. With residence in Singapore, Amb. Uwihanganye also covers Australia and New Zealand. He presented his credentials at the Istana Merkeda presidential palace in Jakarta on Thursday, December 1, according to an embassy statement. The envoy “expressed Rwanda's commitment to strengthening bilateral relations between Indonesia and Rwanda, which mainly focuses on trade,” the statement reads in part. President Widodo “expressed his appreciation of Rwanda's attendance at the recently concluded G20 Summit in Bali,” it adds. Rwandan President Paul Kagame was invited to the G20 Summit in his capacity as the Chairperson of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD). Addressing the world leaders at the high-level gathering last month, Kagame advanced Africa’s interests in the context of a volatile global environment, noting that the Covid-19 pandemic had widened the gap between developed and developing countries. He also cited other challenges including conflict, climate emergency and debt burden. Meanwhile, during Thursday’s meeting with Amb. Uwihanganye, the Indonesian president “committed to strengthening existing bilateral relations” between the two countries, according to the communiqué. Rwanda imports mainly vegetable oils from Indonesia while it exports tea and coffee to the Southeast Asian country.
