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Kagame: Rwanda a Resilient Nation

January 22, 2015

Kagame (2nd Right) and Blair at the conference in Davos on Wednesday Kagame (2nd Right) and Blair at the conference in Davos on Wednesday[/caption] “Rwanda stands for something,” said Kagame while answering a question on the legacy Rwanda will leave for the next generations at the Wednesday breakfast roundtable discussion held on sidelines of World Economic Forum in Davos. “It is a nation that has been built from nothing. This is what we have done for ourselves with partnerships, to become prosperous, free and integrated with the world,” he added. “We invite you to be part of Rwanda’s story.” President Kagame continues to enjoy worldwide recognition for turning around the economy and infrastructure of a nation destroyed by genocide in 1994 when the RPF guerrillas seized power. Speaking at the same function, former UK Premier, Tony Blair said Rwanda “offers a model for Africa,” citing the example of lifting one million people out of poverty over the last few years. President Kagame said, “We are not looking at Rwanda as an island but as a country that benefits from working with its neighbours;” emphasising the advantages of regional relations and cross-border trade and infrastructural investments. Business leaders gathered in Davos for the 45th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting called for structural reforms to the global economy to encourage growth. More than 2,500 participants are taking part in the Annual Meeting, held from 21 to 24 January, under the theme, The New Global Context. Participants in a session on The New Growth Context were told that monetary policy was not enough to encourage growth. “Policy-makers shouldn’t kid themselves,” Axel A. Weber, Chairman of the Board of Directors, UBS, Switzerland, said. “They need to deliver policy reforms, not just loose monetary policy.” Weber listed labour market and pension reform as especially important, and cited Germany’s reforms under the Schröder government as an example for the rest of Europe to follow. “Right now structural reforms are the only game in town. We need politicians to act,” Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), Washington DC; World Economic Forum Foundation Board Member, said. Zhu added that “worldwide, the whole banking sector is much stronger than a few years ago” but that “the risks have moved into the shadow banking sector.” John Rice, Vice-Chairman, GE, Hong Kong SAR, emphasized the importance of infrastructure to global growth. “You don’t have sustainable, inclusive growth unless you have jobs, and you don’t create jobs unless you have good basic infrastructure,” he said. David M. Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Carlyle Group, USA, said that since governments and banks are no longer funding infrastructure investments as much as they did in the past, more and more infrastructure projects will be funded by private equity. “Right now the US seems the greatest place in the world in which to invest,” he said. However, he cautioned that economic growth there is leaving many behind, especially in middle- and lower-income groups. Zhang Xin, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, SOHO China, People’s Republic of China; Young Global Leader Alumnus, noted that China, unlike Europe, is suffering from too much investment and not enough consumption. “How do we grow consumption? We need tax reform,” she said. Although pro-consumption reforms in China are proceeding more slowly than she would like, Xin said that “the anticorruption campaign is working very well.” *Source chimpreports.]]>

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