tries. We are currently running an annual taekwondo competition that attracts countries from across the region. The competition aims to teach Rwandans the basic elements of this martial art because it’ s one of Korea’ s oldest traditions.
We are also organising an annual Korean speech competition for Rwandan people as a way of teaching them our language.
On the economic front, I am focusing on increasing Korean investments in Rwanda. We currently have Korea Telecom, which has invested $ 140 million in Rwanda, the result of which is Olleh Rwanda Networks, the biggest private-public partnership project in the field of ICT not only in Rwanda, but also globally.
In terms of trade, the volume is still relatively small; in 2014 it was only about $ 20 million but this will increase as Rwanda’ s economy grows.
What are some of the latest development projects Korea has funded in Rwanda? There are 13 projects we are currently
funding in Rwanda, including the Rural Community Development Project in Nyaruguru, Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre in Kicukiro, and a multipurpose dam project in Nyagatare, among others. Our focus is on agriculture, education and ICT.
What do you consider the main challenges and opportunities for Rwanda’ s economy and how should they be handled? As an observer, Rwanda’ s main opportunity is its strong reputation because of its achievements in the last two decades. However, there are still a number of challenges to overcome. For instance, the country’ s middle class must grow to facilitate the growth of the economy. The other challenge is the fact that Rwanda is a land-locked country. So, for it to become a land-linked country, transportation and telecommunication with the neighbouring countries should be strengthened. This will help Rwanda benefit from strong regional integration.
How can Rwanda and the rest of East Africa emulate the economic success of your country? At the time I was born, Korea was a very poor country and we were recipients of donor aid until some years ago. East African countries can draw meaningful lessons from both our success and mistakes. For instance, rapid economic growth can cause problems such as urbanisation, pollution, environmental destruction, etc. East African countries can avoid such problems by using Korea as a case study.
Presently, what is Korea exporting to Rwanda and what is Rwanda exporting to Korea? Electronic products are imported by Rwanda from Korea while Korea imports commodities such as coffee from Rwanda. Koreans consume coffee more than anything else and African coffee is very popular in Korea. The electronic products that Korea exports mostly to Rwanda include motor vehicle parts, mobile phones and various communication devices. Even though our trade volume is not yet as big as we wish it to be, there is potential for the market to grow. But people here must first become richer.
OCTOBER 2016 EDITION- 47