(2020 Service Trade Fair) Business Opportunity of the Service Trade Fair: "Unexpectedly Popular" African Country Rwanda

　　China News Service, Beijing, September 7 (Reporter Pang Wuji) At the gate of the 2020 China International Trade in Services Fair Rwanda Investment and Trade Promotion Conference, a poster with three mountain silverback gorillas is placed.

The mountain silverback gorilla is the prototype of the movie "King Kong" and one of the most endangered rare animals in the world. It can only be seen in a few African countries such as Rwanda.

This poster has also become one of Rwanda's most eye-catching "travel business cards" at the 2020 Service Trade Fair.

　　To the surprise of many people, this seemingly inconspicuous small African country became "hot" at the service trade fair.

Originally planned to last for an hour and a half of the promotion meeting, due to the large number of questioners, it was continuously delayed.

After the meeting, the ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda to China and the Commercial Counselor who attended the promotion meeting were surrounded by representatives of participating companies with investment intentions.

　　"We are doing solar power generation and hope to find a suitable partner in Rwanda."

　　"We are very interested in investment in infrastructure and municipal public utility projects. We would like to know if there are any restrictions on the proportion of foreign capital in this area?"

　　...

　　Constantly responding to corporate questions and exchanging business cards. Within ten minutes, Shamir, the Commercial Counselor of the Rwandan Embassy in China, added a long list of "friends" to his WeChat account.

　　Shamir told a reporter from China News Agency, “I can feel that many (consultants) are serious about cooperating. We will continue to follow up. If we need local partners in Rwanda, we will also find some strong and reliable partners. Pu’s companies connect with them.”

　　Speaking of East African country Rwanda, many people will think of the "Rwanda Genocide" that shocked the world 26 years ago.

However, after the tragedy, under the leadership of the new government, Rwanda rebuilt its homeland and restored its economy.

Now Rwanda has got rid of the labels of "poor public security" and "dirty environment" and has become the most promising and safest country in Africa.

　　Rwanda's ambassador to China James Kimonio said that Rwanda is now a peaceful and safe country. Women dare to travel alone at night. This is regarded by some international organizations as one of the criteria for determining whether a country is safe.

　　Rwanda is also one of the fastest growing economies in Africa.

Since 2007, the average annual growth rate has been about 7.5%.

　　In recent years, Rwanda has also carried out extensive and thorough business reforms to increase its attractiveness to foreign investors.

James Kimonio said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency that now Rwanda is one of the easiest places to do business on the African continent.

According to a ranking by the World Bank, Rwanda ranks second in terms of ease of doing business among African countries in 2020, second only to Mauritius, and first in East Africa.

　　How convenient is it to do business in Rwanda?

Shamir made an analogy: "Wake up at six o'clock in the morning and still be an ordinary person. You can own your own company at noon and become a CEO." Registering a company in Rwanda can be completed in 6 hours, and it can be done online. operating.

　　The Chinese owner Zhang Yaodong opened the first five-star hotel in Rwanda. The hotel is located next to the Rwanda International Convention and Exhibition Center.

At the promotion meeting that day, Zhang Yaodong said frankly that he was attracted by a series of preferential policies to invest in the past.

The hotel opened in 2016 and business has been very good until now.

"Now I am working on the second project, which is a complex real estate project, with villas, apartments and hotels." Zhang Yaodong said that although Rwanda is not large, it is well organized and has many investment opportunities.

　　James Kimonio said that Rwanda has a lot of investment opportunities in energy, transportation, health, agriculture, mining, tourism and other fields.

For tourism, Shamir said that Rwanda is one of the few countries where mountain gorillas can be traced. “The entire gorilla family can be easily seen in Rwanda.”

Many people travel thousands of miles away and make a special trip to Rwanda for this purpose.

　　In addition to the business opportunities in Rwanda, James Kimonio pointed out that Rwanda is also the "entry" of greater business opportunities. Chinese companies come to invest and they are exposed to not only Rwanda business opportunities, but also business opportunities in Africa as a whole.

(Finish)