South Korea to invest more in Rwanda

The Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea said Tuesday the country is exploring more potential investment areas in Rwanda. Park Byeong Seug led an 11-member team of legislators from South Korea for a for a two-day visit in the country to explore potential areas of investment among other things. Seug and his delegation who met the Senate president, Dr. Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo, on Tuesday lauded the relationship between the two countries as cordial. “We are eyeing areas like energy, Information Communication Technology, general infrastructure and rural development,” he noted. “Korea and Rwanda have so many things in common. Both countries have scarce natural resources and experienced terrible periods of colonialism, but we are still able to achieve milestones in economic development and poverty erradication,” Seug added. He also applauded the country’s Vision 2020 development agenda, saying its similar to what Korea used to achieve its socio-economic transformation. “I commend President Paul Kagame ’s leadership for not only helping the country achieve political stability but also a robust economy,” Seug said. “Korea is one of the few countries in the world that have managed to turn from aid recipients to donors in less than a century,” he added. Seug pointed out that his country will continue to partner with Rwanda even in other areas. Dr. Ntawukuriryayo hailed South Korea for its fast transformation, saying it is an inspiration to developing countries like Rwanda. “About 40 years ago, this country was among the poorest in the the world, but its amazing how it got out in such a short time,” Ntawukuriryayo said. “The cordial relationship between the two countries is about 50 years old , but this visit cements it more,” he added. South Korea’s largest telecom company, Korea Telecom, early last year entered into an agreement, valued at $140m (about Rwf91 bn)with Rwanda to deploy a high-speed (4G LTE ) broadband network across the country that will see Rwandans access fast, reliable and cheaper internet services.