Istanbul, 22 March 2012
“Friendship with Turkey good basis for good business”
President Kagame on the second day of a working visit to Istanbul said that Rwanda was keen to welcome more Turkish investors and that the friendship that has been established will facilitate good business between the two countries.
Referring to the many opportunities presented at the forum by the Rwanda Development Board, President Kagame said;
“We are determined to translate these prospects into productive businesses that will benefit investors and at the same time contribute to the growth of our economy, which will ultimately lead to the transformation of the lives of our people.”
President Kagame said that Rwanda has worked progressively to improve its investment climate in order to make it easy to do business and that the economy has responded well to reforms, growing at an average of around 8% over the last decade. He also pointed out that Turkish investors to Rwanda could also look to the East African market of almost 130 million people, and the established customs union and common market that facilitates free movement of goods and services within that region.
In an interactive session earlier on at the forum, Minister Louise Mushikiwabo spoke of the special relationship between Rwanda and Turkey and said that this would help facilitate a future official agreement with the government of Turkey.
Earlier in the day, President Kagame toured two major Turkish companies; the YDA construction industry and trade and Nova, a design and manufacturing company.
President Kagame gave a live interview to a local Turkish TV network, Bugun TV, where he said that he was impressed by Turkey’s rapid development and that Rwanda was committed to forging strong business ties with Turkey.