Rwanda and Pakistan have signed a trade cooperation agreement to expand bilateral trade and investment, promote local production and strengthen business ties between the two countries.
The agreement was signed in Kigali on Thursday, September 24, by Rwanda’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Antoine Kajangwe, and Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Rwanda, Naeem Khan.
The signing took place during the Rwanda-Pakistan Investment Forum, which brought Pakistan business leaders and investors together with Rwandan government officials and private-sector representatives.
The agreement will support trade facilitation, business partnerships and joint ventures, particularly in manufacturing and technology. Rwanda is seeking Pakistani investment in agro-processing, textiles and pharmaceuticals to increase domestic production and create employment opportunities.
“We are not in competition. We have complementarity. We complete each other,” Khan said, describing the two economies as having strengths that can support mutually beneficial cooperation.
Trade between Rwanda and Pakistan totalled $236.4 million from 2023 to 2025. Rwanda has also registered seven Pakistani investment projects worth more than $2 million.
Rwanda mainly exports tea to Pakistan and imports products including rice. The country supplies about 45 per cent of the tea consumed in Pakistan.
The forum also highlighted opportunities for Pakistani companies to establish operations in Rwanda, work with local businesses and use the country as a base for accessing regional and continental markets.
Businesses from both countries explored opportunities in manufacturing, agriculture and food processing, textiles and apparel, information technology, tourism and transport.
Rwanda and Pakistan established diplomatic relations in 1962. Pakistan opened its resident High Commission in Kigali in 2021, while Rwanda inaugurated its High Commission in Islamabad in 2025.
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