Media Release
15 June, 2009
Visit to Australia by Rwandan Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Republic of Rwanda, Mrs Rosemary Museminali, is visiting Australia from Sunday 14 to Thursday 18 June.
I will meet with Mrs Museminali in Canberra today, Monday 15 June.
Mrs Museminali will also visit Melbourne and Sydney.
I previously met with Mrs Museminali in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in January and at the United Nations in New York in September 2008.
Mrs Museminali's visit is an important step forward for Australia's relationship with Rwanda. The relationship is young, with diplomatic relations established in 2006, and the links between our two countries growing.
Rwanda has taken enormous strides in restoring and building its economic and social capacity and political structures since the tragic events of 1994. Australia wants to help Rwanda further along the path of political and economic recovery and development.
Mrs Museminali's visit provides an opportunity to build private sector, government and institutional links between Australia and Rwanda, and explore further potential for bilateral trade and investment, particularly in the agricultural and minerals resources industries.
We will also discuss how Australia's development assistance program can help build Rwanda's human resource capacity. Rwanda will have greater access to Australian scholarships and technical assistance under Australia's development assistance program for Africa.
Australia supports Rwanda's aspiration to join the Commonwealth and welcomes its commitment to realising the Commonwealth's shared values of democracy, good governance, and human rights.
At the United Nations, Australian and Rwanda work together as friends and partners to promote the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle, which seeks to prevent crimes against humanity.
Our discussions will also cover regional peace and security issues, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe.
Australia will provide an additional $5.5 million to support the hundreds of thousands of civilians displaced by ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo including in the province of South Kivu, on the border with Rwanda.
Media inquiries:
- Mr Smith's office 02 6277 7500
- Departmental Media Liaison 02 6261 1555