President Paul Kagame has urged Rwandans to build on the progress of 2019 and set their sights on the country's long term growth strategy, Vision 2050.
In his annual televised New Year address, the Head of State called on Rwandans to set their sights beyond 2020 to ambitions set out in Vision 2050.
Vision 2050 is Rwanda’s long term development strategy that succeeds Vision 2020.
"Although the New Year we are starting is 2020, our vision goes beyond this year. We are looking at the path we are now beginning following the vision we set 20 years ago. We are starting a vision set from 2020 to 2050 for the next 30 years,” the President said.
Kagame noted that the new vision’s planning and implementation have been divided into two parts, 15 years each. The first will be towards the year 2035 while the second will be towards 2050.
"The planning and implementation of the new year were divided into two parts of 15 years each. I urge every Rwandan to keep working towards the vision for the next 30 years leading to 2050. So that we can build on what we have achieved as we progress from the year 2020 towards our vision,” he said.
Among the broad goals of the development plan include achieving an upper-middle income status of $4,000 annual per capita income by 2035 and a high-income status $12,000 annual per capita income by 2050.
Overall, the long term development ambition is ensuring high standards of living for all Rwandans. The vision’s blueprint covers five main pillars: quality of life, modern infrastructure and livelihoods, transformation for prosperity, values for Vision 2050 and international cooperation and positioning.
Commenting on the just concluded year, the president said that 2019 was a good year for Rwanda.
The New Year, he said, is set to be better than 2019, Kagame said if Rwandans continue to work together as they did in the previous year, he noted.
"In General 2019, was a very good year for us, and if we continue doing the right thing as everyone did in the year we are just ending, 2020 will be even better than 2019,” he said.
In regards to the tasks ahead, the Head of State said that there was a lot in the country’s in-tray which will among other things require close collaboration and learning from mistakes.
"In this coming year, there is a lot of work to do building on what we have achieved in 2019. This requires us to continue working together doing things right and correcting our mistakes. The most important thing is that our country continues to develop,” he said.
Among the major tasks that lie ahead for Rwanda in 2019 include hosting the Commonwealth Heads of State and Governments’ Meeting (CHOGM), implementation of major infrastructure progress, improvement of in sectors such as education and healthcare among others.
Kagame’s wish for the country in 2020, he said is that the country continues to achieve set goals across sectors and continued cooperation.
"What I wish for Rwandans in this new year 2020, is to continue to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves, be it in agriculture and farming, in education, in trade and cooperation with neighbouring countries and those from across the globe…”
"…For our education to keep improving, for our health sector to improve; the security that we all work for together, whether it is citizens on whom it is founded or our security institutions, it is clear that everyone is playing their role and progress is being made as a result of our collaboration,” he said.