Expert calls for value addition

KIGALI - An Indian professor, Dr. Rakesh Mohan Joshi, has recommended that Rwanda should add value to her products in order to boost her foreign trade. Prof. Mohan, who is also the author ‘International Business book’, was speaking to The Sunday Times shortly after the foreign trade workshop that has been taking place at the School of Finance and Banking (SFB) for the last two weeks. The workshop was facilitated by the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) with the aim of building the capacity of Rwandan senior level managers in the area of foreign trade. “There are lots of potential in Rwanda in areas of Agriculture, Mining and Art & Craft which only need value addition to have successful competition on the international market,” said Mohan, a renowned management expert. He is Professor and Chairperson, Management Development Programmes at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), India’s premier business school. Mohan said that proper marketing strategies are needed, as well as branding and packaging, pointing out that skills development is required to attain successful foreign trade. He noted that there is potential to add value in Silk production, Tea, Coffee, Handcrafts, fruits, and vegetables. Natacha Kaneza, the Art & Craft Consultant at the Private Sector Federation who also attended the workshop, said it would have been better if exporters had attended the workshop instead of senior managers. Kaneza said that business people would have benefited a lot from the workshop by getting answers to issues they encounter in international business. She said that the conference opened participants’ minds on the possibilities of international business, including knowing and meeting international standards. Ends