Two new envoys accredited to Rwanda on Tuesday, August 9, presented their letters of credence to President Paul Kagame, as they started their tenure of representing their countries in Rwanda. The envoys are China’s Wang Xuekun who replaced Rao Hongwei, while Malawi’s Andrew Zumbe Kumwenda replaces Glad Chembe Munthali. The Chinese envoy is resident in Kigali. Currently, Malawian envoys to Rwanda reside in Tanzania, and are accredited to represent their country to 5 African countries including Tanzania, Burundi, Seychelles, Comoros, Rwanda. Speaking to the media after meeting with President Kagame, Ambassador Wang noted that they had “a friendly and fruitful meeting” where they talked about bilateral cooperation. “We congratulate Rwanda on its achievements in development and stability…since the establishment of the bilateral ties, our bilateral cooperation and friendship have grown at a faster pace in recent years,” he added. He added that the exchange visits between President Kagame and President Xi Jinping have brought the two countries’ bilateral relations to “a new stage.” “And in the face of Covid-19, our two countries stood in solidarity against the virus. We look forward to working together to deepen our bilateral political trust and promote mutually beneficial cooperation, and look forward to more and new progress in our cooperation,” he added. On his part, the Malawian envoy said that his tenure will focus more on “economic diplomacy,” where he looks forward to learning from Rwanda’s development path. “When I was coming here, I was addressed by my President. He said this is not time for political diplomacy but economic diplomacy - to do something for our people. So here I am to learn what Rwanda is doing right,” he said. “Rwanda is at a stage where we want to be, so I will do my best to learn and advise my government on what we must do. And I think there is a lot we can also do together like trade and tourism. We also need to end this idea that we have to get visas to go to Malawi or to come to Rwanda. I think Rwanda has opened up, so Malawi too needs to do that,” he added. He also noted that he will be looking at how the two countries can cooperate in youth and women empowerment. “Very soon there will be a Joint Permanent Commission of Cooperation (JPCC), sometime later this month. That is part of the whole process. We want to cooperate more in all spheres,” he said. He reflected on the relationship between the two countries, saying it is very good, giving an example of a road that was named after President Kagame in Malawi. “We have a Paul Kagame road! That is how highly we rate our relationship with the President here,” he said.
