Courting of Asian investors will pay–off

The Prime Minister, on Monday, announced that the tour of India, by a delegation of government officials and representatives of the private sector, was successful after various business partnerships were established and a number of companies committed to investing in Rwanda. That aggressive investment promotion efforts targeting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from Asian countries has started to pay off, should be commended. Following the global economic downturn, it is imperative that the country expands its investment base to compliment Western sources that had declined as a result of the financial crisis. Additionally, it is much easier doing business with Asian countries because they easily identify with the African situation, considering that they too are on the path from poor to middle income countries, though at different stages. The current thinking within the context of the south-south cooperation that seeks to boost trade and investment among the developing economies, should be given more attention by the policy makers. For instance India is now considered an economic powerhouse within the area of technology. Rwanda can effectively tap into Indian technology transfer programmes, for the purposes of boosting its local manufacturing capacities. The same can be said about China, which like, India offers African countries, such as Rwanda, appropriate models of development and cooperation. That said, the move to widen the pool of potential investors will, without doubt, pay off, especially, that the World Bank has, for the last two years, ranked Rwanda top for creating the most favourable environment for doing business. Ends

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Courting of Asian investors will pay–off