New envoys present credentials

Five heads of diplomatic missions yesterday formally presented their letters of credence to President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro. The envoys will represent the Dominican Republic, Sultanate of Oman, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Czech Republic and Canada.

Wednesday, December 07, 2011
L-R:David Collins- Canada,Raul Fernando- Dominican Republic,Yahya Bin Moosa Bin Issa Al-Bakri- Sultanate of Oman,Marek Libricky- Czech Republic,Habib Mahfud - Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Five heads of diplomatic missions yesterday formally presented their letters of credence to President Paul Kagame at Village Urugwiro.

The envoys will represent the Dominican Republic, Sultanate of Oman, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Czech Republic and Canada.

Dominican Republic’s Ambassador, Raul Fernando Barrientos Lara, told journalists that he will embark on promoting bilateral co-operation between the two countries, especially in the areas of tourism, mineral resource development and trade.

"Our relationship with Rwanda is going on smoothly despite that our countries are located far apart. We would like to partner with Rwanda in trade and investment opportunities because of her stable economy,” said Barrientos Lara who is based in Pretoria, South Africa.

The Dominican Republic is on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region.

The Canadian High Commissioner, David Collins, who is based in Nairobi, stated that during his tenure, he will help deepen the already existing bilateral cooperation between Rwanda and Canada.

 "We look forward to continue supporting Rwanda in the development process, most especially in health, education and investment…We also have some opportunities to offer like introducing Canadian technology to the Rwandan private sector.”

Yahya Bin Moosa Bin Issa Al-Bakri, the Oman ambassador, said his country and Rwanda have a long history of cordial relations and that he looked to cement the existing bilateral relations.

"I am going to work with the Rwandan government to create an Oman-Rwanda Business Council as a means to explore possible avenues of trade.”

"We have so many people from Oman living here in Rwanda and I am going to encourage investors from Oman to come and invest in this beautiful country,” said Al-Bakri who is resident in Dar-es-salaam.

Habib Mahfud A. Boukheris, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic’s Ambassador to Rwanda, based in Kampala, Uganda, and Marek Libricky, the Czech Republic‘s Ambassador, also pledged to promote ties with Rwanda.

"Rwanda has been performing well in the World Bank Doing Business rankings lately, and we are very pleased to partner with Rwanda in mutual  business interests,” Libricky, who is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said.

frank.kanyesigye@newtimes.co.rw