Gov’t woos investors into horticulture

KIGALI - The government of Rwanda is trying woo the potential investors in the horticulture (fruits and vegetables) and tea sectors. This was revealed yesterday by the Prime Minister Bernard Makuza while officiating at a one-day high-level agribusiness investment forum which mainly focused on allowing foreign and domestic agriculture and agro- processing investors to share investment strategies and opportunities. The conference that brought together investors from the East African Community, Africa, Mid-East, Europe and Asia was organized by Rwanda Development Board (RDB), the Ministry of Agriculture and the World Bank Group. “This is an opportunity for us to have a dialogue with you on how best to partner and channel our efforts into fostering the development of horticulture and tea sectors,” he said. He added that Rwanda is committed to programmes and initiatives that aim at fostering trade and investment in horticulture and tea sectors. “Plans to increase the production of tea are ongoing and currently we have 9,000 hectares of land on which we have already started to plant tea, but we need you with your expertise to partner with us to put up factories to process that tea,” Makuza told investors. “In horticulture, a range of tropical fruits and vegetables exist in this country; we need investors to process and establish strategic linkages between Rwanda and lucrative markets in Europe, Asia and America. We need you to be part of this”. According to Agnes Kalibata the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Rwanda has an ideal climate for horticulture and tea. “We are ready to make sure that the nuclear land you need for investment will be made available,” she told the investors. “Regarding horticulture, we have been experiencing growth in exports for the last five years and have seen more and more companies interested in exporting fruits and vegetables,” said John Gara the Chief Executive officer of RDB. “Today we are looking for investors who can make use of the hectares of land earmarked for fruits and vegetables targeting export market as well as processing of those produce”. Ends

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Gov’t woos investors into horticulture