Rwanda is interested in Russian experience and investment, particularly in the mining sector and agricultural processing, Rwandan Trade Minister Soraya Hakuziyaremye told Sputnik in an interview
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th June, 2019) Rwanda is interested in Russian experience and investment, particularly in the mining sector and agricultural processing, Rwandan Trade Minister Soraya Hakuziyaremye told Sputnik in an interview.
"We want more momentum on trade and investment. [We want] to highlight investment opportunities that are of interest to Russian companies. We have interests in the mining sector, in the processing sector, in health and agriculture ... I believe mining and minerals is one of the areas Russia is really good at, that we can learn from," the minister said.
The minister added that Rwanda had started to extract natural gas and needed expertise in this area as well.
"As I understand Russia has developed public transport using methane gas, and those services are of interest to us. Another sector we are trying to push is agro-processing � one adding values to main traditional exports coffee and tea but also making sure that we can reduce our imports when we have raw material to produce products that we consume locally," Hakuziyaremye said.
She said that a delegation of Russian companies had visited Rwanda recently in search of investment opportunities in food processing, mining and healthcare, in particular oncology clinics.
Rwanda, in turn, looks to increase exports of manufactured goods with higher added value, the minister said.
"I think these [agro-processing and mining] are particular niche areas that our country needs as well which we would look at," she said.
Rwandan authorities also want Russian investors to take advantage of Kigali's integration within the East African Community (EAC), which opens doors to a market of over 100 million people, the minister said.
The EAC consists of six countries � Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda � with the Democratic Republic of the Congo having applied to join the community earlier in June.
