President Paul Kagame hosted the Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong at Urugwiro Village on his first official visit to Rwanda.
In a joint Press Conference after a closed meeting, the two leaders reiterated the strong relationship that exists between their countries and made a commitment to continue building on that.
President Kagame said they had very productive discussions and thanked Singapore for being a strong and reliable partner, promising they would be doing more together in the years ahead. He singled out the cooperation between central banks of the two countries.
On his first official visit to Africa, Prime Minister Lee congratulated President Kagame upon the successful hosting and conclusion of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
He described Rwanda as rapidly developing, innovative and forward looking adding that although Singapore and Rwanda are on different continents the two have got much in common.
Asked for his view on the sentiment that the commonwealth benefits members with big economic muscles more than the smaller ones the PM said the commonwealth is an organization that enables
partnerships and cooperation and the scope of benefit depends on how far an individual is prepared to go.
PM Loong said he had an opportunity to meet Singaporeans living and working here, which was an opportunity for him to learn on how best the bilateral ties can be improved.
Both leaders talked about the similarities between the two countries and the vision they share, and addressed a question on criticisms directed at both countries.
PM Loong said the first responsibility the governments in both countries have is to serve their people and make sure the country is heading in the right direction.
On the same issue President Kagame, said so many things have been said about democracy, freedoms and rights and that democracy may mean one thing, but it expresses itself in many ways.
“Sometimes people get confused when democracy is being expressed in one way or the other, it has not met the standard or the test or definition of some people and therefore criticisms will be built on that,” President Kagame.
Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, who left yesterday, stayed in Rwanda for a state visit, after attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
