Ambassador Valentine Rugwabiza on Tuesday presented the letter of credence appointing her the High Commissioner of Rwanda to Jamaica to Sir Patrick Linton Allen, the Governor General of Jamaica. Rugwabiza has been serving as Rwanda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations since 2016. Prior to that she was the Minister for East African Community. She also worked as the Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Development Board from 2013 to 2014. A seasoned diplomat, Rugwabiza also worked as the Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as Rwanda’s to Switzerland. As she presented her credentials, according to a press statement, Rugwabiza conveyed President Paul Kagame’s greetings to Linton, and expressed the desire to expand bilateral cooperation and exchanges between the Governments and people of Jamaica and Rwanda. She also paid a courtesy call to Andrew Michael Holness the Prime Minister of Jamaica and they held discussions focused on areas with high potential of deepening relation between the two nations. The areas discussed, according to the statement, include tourism, agriculture, science and new technologies and green growth among others. She also met with Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade and shared updates on the preparation of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM2020) which will be hosted by Rwanda in June 2020.
