Rwandan businessmen to tour Turkey
More than 30 Rwandan businessmen are expected to travel to turkey for firsthand experience on vast business opportunities Turkey presents. Business men from Rwandan industries such as agro-processing, textile, food, steel and furniture will visit Istanbul in Turkey from February 9- 13, 2014.
The three-day trade mission code named “Turkey-East Africa Trade Bridge 2014” is organized by the Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists of Turkey, Tuskon. According to Adem Sanliturk, the secretary general of the Rwanda Active Businessmen Association (RWABA), participants will meet Turkish exporters and manufacturers to learn from experiences on industrial development.
The tour is aimed at benefiting business people from both countries to exchange experiences and work alongside to boost trade between Rwanda and Turkey. In 2013, a delegation of 15 Turkish businessmen visited Rwanda to explore business opportunities between the two nations.
Rwanda and Turkey strengthened their bilateral relationship since 2012 when President Paul Kagame visited Turkey. About 12 countries from all over the world will participate in the event that will bring together 2,000 business people, including 135 from Africa, 30 of whom will be from Rwanda.
While at the event, business men will see activities like business-to-business meetings, product exhibition and a tour of Gaziantep industrial development zone. Similarly, a delegation of Twenty-nine Rwandan businessmen led by Minister of Trade and Industry, François Kanimba attended Turkey-Rwanda Trade and Investment Forum, organized by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON), in Istanbul, Turkey from 18th to 23nd May, 2013. Tuskon is a non-governmental and non-profit umbrella that brings together seven business federations and 211 business associations, representing 55,000 business people and more than 140,000 companies respectively.
The 1994 genocide movements disturbed the economy of Rwanda in which businesses collapsed as many people were running day and nights. To-date, the government of Rwanda under president Paul Kagame is strategising the reviving the economy by empowering the Business men through giving them tax reliefs and holidays, organising business seminars and trips, provision of loans with small interests among others.
