(L-R) Abdullah Sheikh Mohamed of Somalia, Antila Sinikka of Finland, Belaynesh Zevadia of Israel, Judith Kasashi Kasanda Kangoma- Kapijimpanga of Zambia.
Strengthening economic ties between Rwanda and their respective countries will be the top priority of five new ambassadors accredited to Rwanda.
Speaking to journalists shortly after presenting their credentials to President Paul Kagame, yesterday, the envoys stressed that many areas of cooperation with Rwanda lie unexploited and this could provide a suitable challenge for their work.
They include Somalia’s Cabdullahi Sheikh Maxamed, Israel’s Belaynesh Zevadia, Eleftherios Kouvaritakis of Greece, Judith Kangoma of Zambia and Finland’s Antilla Sinikka.
“We share a lot in common with Rwanda and have gone through similar tragic events; the Holocaust and the Genocide against the Tutsi. This relationship has enabled us to share best practices on reconciliation and peace building. I am now looking forward to joint strategies in fostering education and agricultural advancement in Rwanda,” Zevadia said.
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Finland’s Ambassador, Sinikka, said she would follow up on Rwanda’s ambitious ICT programmes by attracting high tech investors from her country.
“Finland is a high tech country with advanced use of technology in almost all its sectors, and Rwanda has made commendable progress towards becoming the region’s ICT hub. My country will cooperate with Rwanda’s programs aimed at developing knowledge through technology advancement,” Sinikka.
Somalia’s Maxamed, said that other than sharing peace building strategies, his country seeks to learn and adopt Rwanda’s tax policies.
“We will be closely working with Rwanda Revenue Authority to train Somali officials on managing and executing tax policies. Besides that, there are several Somali entrepreneurs who are anxious to open up businesses in Rwanda,” he said.
Equally, both the Zambian and Greek Ambassador reiterated their commitment to support Rwanda in its development endeavours.
Front picture of this posting is taken from Paul Kagame’s photo stream.