Turkish Airlines has offered to give preferential rates to Rwandan traders to ease their movement to Turkey to explore business opportunities.

The deal, dubbed "Corporate Premium Programme Agreement,” was signed, yesterday, during a meeting between members of the Rwandan private sector and a visiting delegation of 30 business executives from Turkey.

Speaking during the meeting, Stephen Ruzibiza, the chief executive of Private Sector Federation, said the partnership was another great move that would allow Rwandans to explore business opportunities in Turkey and would bolster economic ties between the two countries.

He challenged local traders to take advantage of the visiting delegation to forge partnership in different sectors.

"In Rwanda, we have industries which manufacture various products, but at times we tend to import a lot more than we export. We’ve got a lot we can sell to the people abroad, especially in agro-business; but again we sometimes have hindrances like high transport costs,” he said.

Omer Faruk Korkmaz, the Turkish Airlines general manager for Rwanda, said the efforts to ease the flight costs indicate the strong beliefs that Turkey has for Rwandans in doing business.

"Turkish people have got a huge belief that partnering with Rwandans can be of a great value. Private sector members will benefit in a number of ways; they will be offered with flight discounts and, of course, extra luggage allowances,” he said.

During the networking, the Turkish delegates targeted looking out for Rwandan partners with a vision of expanding their businesses to Rwanda.

Many expressed interest in horticulture sector, education, and lather and textile industries.

Alican Yamanyilmaz, the head of the delegation and the chairperson of Mediterranean Aquaculture and Animal Products Exporters at Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM), said the convention also aimed at building mutually beneficial partnership between the two countries.

While many people raised the issue of language barrier, the Ambassador of Turkey to Rwanda, Mehmet Raif Karaca, said some Rwandans are already training in the Turkish language.

"We know that there might be the issue of communication, since most of our people are not English speakers, but we are working closely with Rwandans to broaden the trainings so that they can learn the Turkish language,” Karaca said.

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