Seoul: Rwanda has drawn inspiration from South Korea's impressive post-war economic transformation and hopes to expand bilateral cooperation in such areas as technology and people-to-people exchanges, its top envoy to Seoul has said. Ambassador Bakuramutsa Nkubito Manzi made the remarks as he highlighted the great potential for future partnership between the two countries based on their official ties forged more than six decades ago.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Nkubito emphasized that Korea's development journey continues to inspire Rwanda, and there is immense potential to deepen cooperation in innovation, human capital, and trade. Nkubito expressed a desire to deepen collaboration in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, digital trade, and green mobility. He described Rwanda as one of Africa's most secure and forward-looking nations, having rebuilt itself from the devastation of the 1994 genocide.
The conflict in Rwanda erupted when members of the majority Hutu population massacred the minority Tutsi group after a plane carrying Rwanda's then Hutu president was shot down. In 1998, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda convicted individuals responsible for their roles in the mass killings. Rwanda holds a national period of mourning every year to honor the victims. In August 2023, then Foreign Minister Park Jin visited the memorial site in Kigali to pay tribute during his visit to the East African country, marking the first trip in 10 years for a top South Korean diplomat.
Nkubito noted that Rwanda seeks to nurture the technology sector as a key growth engine and hopes to see more collaboration with Korea. He cited the fourth-generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) project by South Korea's KT Corp. in Rwanda as a prime example of ICT cooperation between the two countries. The project, completed in 2018, has brought nationwide 4G LTE coverage to 97 percent of the 13.5 million Rwandan population.
The ambassador mentioned Rwanda's hope to expand cooperation in the biotech industry, from research in new medicine and improvement of biotech equipment at medical centers to training of physicians. Nkubito also stressed the importance of increasing people-to-people exchanges to advance the partnership with South Korea, with one of his goals being to open direct flights between Seoul and Kigali.
Going forward, Rwanda looks to advance ties with South Korea as a "strategic partnership" by working closely with the new Lee Jae Myung government. With South Korea's trade with Africa currently accounting for about 1.5 percent of its gross domestic product, increasing that share would make a meaningful contribution to Korea's economy. Nkubito expressed that increasing this contribution to 5 percent could help Korea rank much higher in the global economy. He highlighted Africa's potential for growth and considered Rwanda as a good candidate for strategic partnerships with Korea.