VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLGB #0178/01 0731120
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 131120Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5176
INFO RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 1156
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 1840

UNCLAS KIGALI 000178 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/EPS: JPOTASH 
DEPARTMENT PASS TO USTR: WJACKSON 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD RW
SUBJECT: Rwanda Update for 2008 President?s Report on 
AGOA 
 
REF: 08STATE00020082 
 
¶1. SUMMARY.  In accordance with reftel, the following 
provides an update for the 2007 President?s Report on 
AGOA for Rwanda. 
 
Economic Situation:  The government exercises, chiefly 
through the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank, 
manages the economic health of the country, including tax 
collection, banking, trade agreements, anti-corruption, 
and fiscal policy.  Almost eighty five percent of the 
population remains in subsistence agriculture.  The 
government emphasizes the importance of promoting private 
investment, particularly foreign, as an engine of 
development.  The government has implemented several 
initiatives to increase investment and improve the 
climate for doing business in Rwanda, with particularly 
emphasis on faster processing of imports.  The Rwandan 
Investment and Export Promotion Agency (RIEPA) has 
developed information materials, organized trade fairs 
domestically and abroad, and established assistance 
offices in Rwanda to encourage and assist investors. 
Minerals became the number one export in 2007 while the 
construction and tourism sectors have showed tremendous 
growth.  Rwanda faces numerous challenges, including 
physical isolation, a small market, high energy costs, 
developing infrastructure and lingering regional 
instability, most recently shown in Kenyan?s post- 
election turmoil. 
 
Trade Liberalization: On February 19, 2008 President Bush 
and President Kagame signed a Bilateral Investment 
Treaty, which will provide legal protections for U.S. and 
Rwandan investors, underscoring the two countries' shared 
commitment to open investment and trade policies.  In 
2007, Rwanda joined the East African Community, a 
regional intergovernmental organization which aims at 
greater economic cooperation.  There continues to be no 
significant trade barriers that affect the importation of 
goods and services to Rwanda, and market liberalization 
remains a key policy goal.  Few parastatals remain to be 
privatized, and the government appears committed doing so 
in a transparent manner.  Many draft commercial laws, 
including the establishment of a commercial court system, 
are close to being enacted. 
 
Political Pluralism:  In 2003, President Kagame was 
elected to a seven-year term, with 95 percent of the 
vote.  Members of Parliament were also elected to five 
year terms.  In February 2006, local officials were 
elected to five-year terms in elections at the cell, 
sector and district levels.  The next legislative 
elections will be held in 2008, Presidential elections in 
2010 and local elections in 2011.  The 2003 presidential 
and legislative elections were peaceful but marred by 
serious irregularities.  The nonpartisan 2006 local 
elections were generally considered free and fair, with 
no indication of coercion, harassment, or intimidation of 
voters.   On June 1, 2007, a new political parties law 
abolished restrictions on political parties? ability 
organize and open offices at all administrative levels. 
Independent parties report they are now free to circulate 
and attract supporters throughout the countryside. 
 
Rule of Law:  The government continues to make efforts to 
strengthen the independence and capacity of the 
judiciary.  In most cases, the judiciary operated without 
government interference.   Members of the national bar 
association noted increased judicial independence during 
the year, citing the increased willingness of judges to 
rule against the government and a higher standard of 
judicial training and education.  The judiciary has 
Qjudicial training and education.  The judiciary has 
undertaken extensive efforts to reduce the backlog of 
pending cases.  A new legal training institute began 
operations in 2007. 
 
Anti-Corruption:  Corruption in the country was a problem 
although the government continued its active efforts to 
combat it.  In 2003, it established the Ombudsman?s 
Office and the Auditor General's Office to investigate 
corruption within government, focus on corruption 
prevention and review financial disclosure reports of 
senior government officials to ensure transparency and 
accountability.  The government has provided training to 
the National Police to improve professionalism and to 
promote respect for rule of law.  In 2007, the government 
prosecuted several senior officials on corruption 
 
charges. 
 
Poverty Reduction:  The government has made efforts, with 
measurable results, to reduce poverty and to improve 
access to health care and education, despite its severely 
limited resources.  Under its national policy of 
universal primary education, the government provides free 
primary education to all children.  A joint government- 
donor task force is focusing on improvement of girls' 
education.  The government is attempting to improve 
access to health care through greater decentralization to 
ensure adequate health services at the local level. 
Rwanda's Poverty Reduction Growth Facility program is 
considered on track by the IMF.   At the Development 
Partners' meeting in the fall of 2007, Rwanda announced 
that it was making good progress at meeting many of the 
Millennium Development Goals, although it was not likely 
achieve its 2015 targets regarding poverty reduction. 
 
Labor:  Rwanda has ratified all eight of the core ILO 
Conventions, including ILO Convention 138 on minimum age 
and ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child 
labor.  Rwandan law provides all salaried workers, 
including some civil servants, with the right to form and 
join labor unions without prior authorization, and 
workers exercised this right in practice.  While all 
unions must register for official recognition, there were 
no reports of the government denying recognition.  The 
law prohibits unions from having political affiliations 
and from publicly expressing political opinions.  It also 
provides for collective bargaining, but this right was 
severely limited in practice.  A complicated negotiation 
process means that strikes are effectively prohibited. 
In November 2005, the government created a National Labor 
Council with equal representation from government, 
employers, and labor unions.  A new labor law is in the 
development stage, but progress as slow as the government 
tries to balance worker rights and business interests. 
 
Child Labor:  Except for subsistence agricultural 
workers, the law prohibits children under the age of 16 
from working outside of the household without their 
parents' or guardians' permission, though child labor 
remains common in the agricultural sector.  As part of 
its youth employment policy, the government has 
undertaken a child labor study and has outlined 
strategies for withdrawal of children involved in child 
labor and mechanisms for prevention.  The government 
supports two U.S. DOL-funded regional projects targeting 
child soldiers and children affected by HIV/AIDS and 
several UNICEF-funded projects to combat child 
prostitution and child labor.  In January 2008, the 
government introduced a national policy for the 
elimination of child labor. 
 
ARIETTI