The bilateral ties between Rwanda and Turkey have over the past few years gained momentum, both in terms of bilateral trade between both countries and politically. In this context, President Paul Kagame this weekend was in Istambul where he attended the third Africa-Turkey Partnership Summit that was attended by several African heads of state. At the summit, President Kagame declared; “In a short period of time, diplomatic and partnership relations between Africa, Rwanda and Turkiye have grown rapidly and strongly.” He later held bilateral talks with his Turkish counterpart. Although Mr. Kagames meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was closed to the press, we can guess that the summary of the meeting was made in the light of the moves aimed at increasing the trade volume between the two countries. Today, we know that Turkeys commercial policy is to increase the volume of exports as much as attracting foreign investors to the country. The course of the Turkish lira against exchange rates, determined in this way, is an important indicator of how much the country needs export. Based on this goal, we can characterize Paul Kagames visit to Istanbul as a breaking point for the relations between the two countries. For Rwanda, whose economy is largely based on imports, the warm relations with Turkey will create a positive synergy in terms of the economic growth of the two countries. We all know the benefits of reciprial visits by high-level political actors to the bilateral commercial flow. In the past months, French President Macron visited Rwanda with a large trade delegation. During these visits, an important step was taken in the relations between France and Rwanda, and commercial doors were opened widely. Now we can think of the same situation for Turkey - Rwanda relations. Turkey is one of the leading export players in the world in the fields of textile items, machinery, food products and construction materials supply. When we look at the trade figures between the two countries, the trade volume was only $10m in 2013, but has grown three fold to $30m today. Im very sure, with the effect of Paul Kagames visit to Turkey, this number will grow even more and reach 3-digit figures in the coming years. Personally, I have been to Rwanda many times, and every time I visit Kigali, I have seen that the products of Turkish companies are more actively preferred in the market. While many Turkish companies open construction sites in Rwanda in the field of infrastructure, many products from Turkey meet with Rwandan buyers at supermarket shelves every day. As a Turkish businessman, I am following the bilateral developments between Rwanda and Turkey with great pride and happiness. I am sure that with the mutual efforts of the statesmen, the exchange between the two countries will increase in the near future within the framework of much more win-win methods. The writer is a Turkish businessman with keen interest in Rwanda.
