Trade, technology, agribusiness… Rwanda has been in partnership with UAE in various things. Currently UAE is Rwanda’s leading trade partner with close to $900 million in total trade as of 2020, the UAE accounted for almost 20% of Rwanda’s trade globally in 2020.
By the editorial staff
« The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become a valuable partner in the country’s economic journey, with trade between two countries growing ten-fold between 2010 and 2020, and almost three-fold from 2018 to 2020 » says Rwanda’s Prime Minister Dr Edouard Ngirente at the ongoing Rwanda Business Forum held as part of the activities to mark Rwanda National Day at the ongoing Dubai Expo 2020.
$900 million in total trade as of 2020
Currently UAE is Rwanda’s leading trade partner with close to $900 million in total trade as of 2020, the UAE accounted for almost 20% of Rwanda’s trade globally in 2020.
While the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates were established in 1995, both countries have been in partnership in various things including exportation of horticultural products in the Carrefour hypermarket in January 2021.
« We know UAE is quite advanced in geospatial and we would like to learn from the UAE »
Rwanda is also looking to have the UAE’s cooperation to utilise geospatial data in its developmental projects in key sectors, a senior official told Emirates News Agency (WAM).
« We know UAE is quite advanced in this area and we would like to learn from the UAE, says Paula Ingabire, Rwandan Minister of ICT and Innovation. The starting point is building capacity. You can have access to different geospatial datasets, and you have the capacity and the ability to mine, analyse and translate that into a way that creates value for us. We also have ambitions, obviously, to partner with countries like UAE to build and be able to launch our own satellite. That may be a mid to long term ambition, even as we already think about the low hanging fruit, which is really around building analytical skills and how we can make the best use of these geospatial data ».
Education, agribusiness, e-commerce
Education is another potential area of cooperation, the minister added. Human capital development, trade and investment, agribusiness, and e-commerce, along with technology and innovation, are potential areas.
« We are working to create partnerships around artificial intelligence (AI). Both UAE and Rwanda are hosting the World Economic Forum Centres for 4th Industrial Revolution. The UAE is around building the right policy and business landscape to nurture AI innovations, » she pointed out.
Another potential area of cooperation is cybersecurity and the biggest focus is really on skilling – providing the much-needed skills and nurturing specialists in this sector…
