New ambassadors of Russia, United Arab Emirates and Tanzania who presented their letters of credence to President Kagame have pledged to strengthen the existing bilateral relations between Rwanda and the respective countries they present. The new envoys who briefed the media in Kigali yesterday, shortly after presenting their credentials included Hazza Mohammed Farah Kharsan Alqahtane, Ambassador of United Arab Emirates (UAE), Karen Chalyan, Ambassador of Russia, and Ernest Jumbe Mangu the High Commissioner of Tanzania, all who are resident in Kigali. UAE’s envoy said that his country is determined to enhance the relationship between his country and Rwanda in all aspects. “My main mission is to do whatever I can to develop relations with the government and the people of Rwanda,” he said. He lauded Rwanda for being a safe country with zero tolerance to corruption and hinted that this profile could attract tourists from his country to come and visit. “We will promote tourism to Rwanda. We have tens of thousands who spend their vacations in Europe and since Rwanda is one of the safest countries, this can be an attraction to our citizens,” he said. Ambassador Chalyan equally said that Rwanda and Russia want to further develop the existing cordial relations especially in areas of education, defence, and political affairs among others. “I have a very clear mandate to be as active as I can possibly be,” he said. Tanzania’s new High Commissioner to Rwanda said that he intends to promote more trade and movement of people. “We have to make sure that we strengthen the relationship between the two countries with the objective of increasing trade and movement of people between the two countries,” he said. Both Rwanda and Tanzania are members of the East African Community regional bloc whose governments have stepped up efforts to improve business environment and promote cross-border trade over the past few years among other cooperation efforts. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
