KIGALI, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Rwandan trade minister on Wednesday urged Rwandan producers to ensure quality of products to sustain the Made-in-Rwanda campaign, as this year's Made-in-Rwanda Exhibition kicked off.
The 4th edition of the exhibition running from Nov. 28 to Dec.4 is held in Rwandan capital city Kigali, which attracts about 450 exhibitors from various sectors including ICT, Agro-business, textile industries, construction and manufacturing.
It is co-organized by the Private Sector Federation of Rwanda and Rwandan Ministry of Trade and Industry to promote locally made products so as to uplift local industries.
Exhibitors were given stands for free this year in an attempt to encourage more local producers to showcase their products and services.
Soraya Hakuziyaremye, Minister of Trade and Industry, on the exhibition called on Rwandans to embrace consumption of locally made products.
She also urged producers to ensure value addition to products and produce quality products that can compete on local and global markets.
The Made-in-Rwanda policy is designed to help boost local industrial contribution to the economic growth while promoting the brand of locally made products at the global stage, which will reduce the country's burden of relying on imports.
Since 2015 when Made-in-Rwanda campaign was launched, Rwanda's total export receipts increased from 559 million U.S. dollars in 2015 to 944 million dollars in 2017, while total imports decreased by 4 percent from 1.85 billion dollars in 2015 to 1.77 billion dollars in 2017, according to the minister.
