Kigali, 24^th August 2017 

Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi said that the main objective of trade fair is to facilitate trade relationships and technology transfer. 

He made the statement yesterday, while officially opening the 20^th Rwanda International Trade Fair that is taking place at Gikondo Expo Ground in Kigali from 22nd August to 6th September 2017.

Anastase Murekezi added that organising trade fairs in Rwanda is in line with the country’s vision of putting private sector at the heart of economic development for all.

Prime Minister Murekezi pointed out that Participating actively in International Trade Fair will help Rwandan exhibitors to fast track knowledge transfer amongst peers thereby strengthening the competitiveness of local business operators. 

He further urged all exhibitors to network extensively and exchange ideas and experience with their international counterparts. 

“Today, most of African economies still depend heavily on production and exports of raw materials and unprocessed commodities, too little value addition and few forward and backward linkages to other sectors of the economy.” Said Prime Minister Anastase Murekezi. 

The Premier further commended African Countries to increase value addition, extract higher rents from commodities and to better integrate into the global value chains. 

This Rwanda International Trade Fair (RITF) attracted more than 500 exhibitors from 17 countries, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Canada, Iran, Pakistani, Turkey, Singapore, Malaysia, Nigeria, Ghana, USA, India and the East African Community (EAC) member states, among others.