Rwanda, China sign $32m economic, technical cooperation deal

Claver Gatete, Rwanda’s minister of finance and economic planning and RAO Hongwei, Chinese ambassador to Rwanda have signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation agreement, under which the Chinese Government pledged to provide $32 million to undertake the extension of Musanze Polytechnic and the drilling of 200 boreholes, as well as other projects to be agreed upon by the two governments.

The ambassador and the minister exchanged letters to confirm the implementation of the aforesaid two projects.

Upon completion, Musanze polytechnic will have the capacity to enroll 1500 diploma students and 400 short-course trainees up from 560 diploma students and 180 short-course trainees.

The 200 boreholes will provide water to the communities in 11 districts and it will fully serve approximately 300 to 1500 people per borehole with potable water in the selected area.

Speaking after the signing event the Minister of Finance and economic planning said: “Rwanda intends to be a knowledge-based economy, therefore, education is crucial. The extension of Musanze polytechnic will ensure the school meets the increasing demands of diploma education while drilling of water boreholes will contribute to the alleviation of water shortage”.

HE. RAO Hongwei pointed out that as a sincere friend and reliable partner of Rwanda, China is willing to, together with Rwanda, enhance practical economic cooperation through strengthening communication and coordination. “China will continue to provide assistance in infrastructure construction, industrialization and agricultural modernization to improve the economic and social development of Rwanda,” HE. RAO Hongwei said.

Last March, President Paul Kagame paid a successful visit to China and had a fruitful meeting with Chinese President XI Jinping. The two heads of state reached important consensus on deepening bilateral relations. On January 13, 2018, Hon. Mr. WANG Yi, the Foreign Minister of China chose Rwanda as the first leg of his overseas visit in 2018. China-Rwanda political trust has upgraded to an unprecedented height and the bilateral relationship and cooperation have reached a new high.

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