Kigali, April 15th, 2013 – The Resident Coordinator of One UN and Resident Representative of UNDP-Rwanda, Mr. Lamin Momodou Manneh made a courtesy call on Ms. Clare Akamanzi, the Chief Executive Officer, a.i. of Rwanda Development Board (RDB) in order to present himself as the new Resident Coordinator of the One UN in Rwanda and to explore with her the potential opportunities for cooperation between the One UN agencies and RDB during the upcoming EDPRS II, 2013-2018 implementation period.

Ms. Akamanzi briefed the Resident Coordinator on the main areas of RDB’s work which are: 1) Business promotion; 2) Export promotion in all the business sectors; 3) The promotion of Strategic Sectors such as Tourism, ICT, and Agriculture; 4) The facilitation of business; and 5) Skills and Entrepreneurship Development.

In the past the One UN in Rwanda had worked with RDB in the development of the iGuide, the electronic investment guide to Rwanda (funded by UNDP and developed by RDB and UNCTAD), in the area of ICT and in the production of business plans and trainings for Business Development Centers (UNECA), and the SMEs entrepreneurship development (UNIDO).

Mr. Manneh explained the ongoing process of strengthening the Delivering as One (DaO) system in Rwanda whereby the One UN explores ways of making more impact in supporting the Government in its efforts at sustained poverty reduction and economic transformation. He then agreed with Ms. Akamanzi that in the context of Rwanda’s Transformational Agenda, during the upcoming EDPRS II and UNDAP 2013-2018, the One UN will build on the earlier support to RDB to assist the institution more effectively, especially in: 1) Supporting skills development in specialized areas such as ICT; 2) Strengthening the capacity of RDB itself by providing specialized expertise; 3) Supporting Rwanda to break into new export markets; and 4) Making Feasibility Studies for Strategic Projects.