Kigali, 17 June 2011
President Kagame today received in his office theDeputy Secretary General of the Commonwealth for Economic Affairs, Mr. Ransford Smith who called on him at his office. Mr. Ransford Smith is in the country to attend the 42nd Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Africa Region Conference, which was opened yesterday by President Paul Kagame.
Speaking to the press after the meeting, Mr. Smith said: “We have had discussions of the preparations for the Commonwealth Heads of Government which will be taking place in Australia at the end of October. As you know, Rwanda is the newest member of the Commonwealth and this will be the first Heads of Government conference that Rwanda will be attending, so we took the opportunity to change ideas on this.”
The Minister of Finance, John Rwangombwa said: “The Deputy Secretary General is here to look at areas where the Commonwealth can assist our country. The discussions with the President looked at areas including capacity building of human resources and institutions, promotion of trade and export. He has also held discussion with different government officials about different issues that concern our country’s development.”