The State of Qatar pursues the policy of openness, cooperation, and engagement with many sisterly and friendly countries and people, primarily the African nations which have close strategic ties with the State of Qatar based on cooperation and solidarity towards global and continental issues, as Qatar strives to upgrade its investment programs to serve the mutual interests with several nations.
Notwithstanding the modernity of the Qatar-Rwanda relations, the shared visits at the level of the leaderships of the two nations did not stop, but rather witnessed a remarkable increase in the recent years.
In alignment with this remarkable increase and in the context of the robust and outstanding relationships between the friendly countries and people comes the visit of President of the friendly Republic of Rwanda H E Paul Kagame to Doha, who was welcomed by Amir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in his office at Lusail Palace yesterday.
During the meeting, they discussed bilateral relations between the two friendly countries and avenues for enhancing them in multiple cooperation areas, in addition to regional and global issues of common concern, especially the developments in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories.
The State of Qatar is a strategic partner for the Republic of Rwanda, as the relations between them have been steadily growing since the establishment of the diplomatic ties in 2017. Since then, the leaders of the two countries have been holding meetings regularly. The high-level shared visits between the two sides have given impetus to cooperation in numerous critical fields and shored up partnership between the two nations.
In this context, HH the Amir visited Rwanda in April 2019 and June 2022 to participate in the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Kigali, while HE the Rwandan President paid visits to Doha in February 2022, March 2023, October 2019, October 2021, December 2019, and November 2018.
Qatar and Rwanda have ambitious and promising relations that underscore their resolve to reinforce and upgrade them for the sake of the two countries and friendly peoples, as the two nations constantly work to forge a model partnership and cooperate in numerous matters to serve their interests, as well as the interests of others.
President Paul Kagame had emphasized the importance of the strategic partnership between his country and the State of Qatar, especially that the Gulf region is booming and abounds with numerous vital opportunities, noting the significance of investing the economic growth.
During a panel discussion within the Qatar Economic Forum 2023, powered by Bloomberg, His Excellency said there is no country capable of achieving economic growth alone, especially a small country like the Republic of Rwanda, highlighting the need to build partnerships with market leaders. He pointed out that negotiations have been completed and moved to the stage of achieving what was agreed upon with the State of Qatar, noting that the country continues to build partnerships with Qatar Airways, with work underway to build Kigali Airport, which 70% of it scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023.
The two nations have an array of agreements and memorandums of understanding that cover political, diplomatic, economic, trade, agricultural, cultural and sports fields, in addition to investment and cooperation sectors in aviation and double taxation avoidance.
The two countries signed an agreement to acquire 60 percent of the share of the Rwandan Bugesera International Airport, and Qatar Airways signed two agreements with the Rwandan tourism air transport company and one agreement with the Aviation, Travel and Logistics Holding Limited in the Republic of Rwanda, along with a memorandum of understanding for defense cooperation between the two countries.
In November 2023, the State of Qatar, represented by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoCIT) signed a memorandum of understanding in communications and information technology with the Republic of Rwanda. The memorandum was signed during an official visit made by a delegation from MoCIT to Kigali within the State of Qatar’s efforts to boost cooperation in communication and information technology with Africa.
On the sidelines of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Air Services Negotiation Event (ICAN2023) that took place in Riyadh last December, the civil aviation authorities of the State of Qatar and the Republic of Rwanda held bilateral talks that culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that allows the concerned airlines of both countries to enter into joint commercial cooperation agreements.
Considered as Qatars investment arm in food and agribusiness sectors, Hassad Food signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government of Rwandan on enhancing bilateral food and agricultural cooperation and investment.
Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), a leading onshore financial and business centre in the region, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rwanda Finance Limited (RFL) to facilitate initiatives that will promote the international development of both QFC and Kigali International Financial Centre.
Moreover, RwandAir and Qatar Airways have signed a comprehensive codeshare agreement to offer travelers more choice, enhanced service, and greater connectivity to more than 65 destinations across Africa and the rest of the world.
President of the Republic of Rwanda H E Paul Kagame had expressed his country’s interest in strengthen its relations and economic partnership with the State of Qatar, citing Qatar’s development model as being exemplary and Rwanda as being one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. His Excellency highlighted Rwanda’s possession of a prosperous and stable investment environment in industries such as: textiles, clothing, leather, agriculture, livestock, industry, tourism, information and communications technology, pharmaceuticals, and the services sector.
Located south of the equator in the Great Lakes region of central Africa, Rwanda is a landlocked country that connects to the outer world through its neighbors, especially via the ports of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Mombasa in Kenya. The country has a population of about 12 million.
In the early 1990s, Rwanda witnessed one of the bloodiest ethnic clashes in history. Despite that, it was able to make a come back as united, prosperous, and globally competitive state. Rwanda’s success story is deemed as a case-study example for transformation and advancement.
