Congo and Rwanda have agreed to strengthen cooperation in the areas of trade, transport, tourism, environment, sanitation, social security, housing, a joint statement issued here Wednesday after a three-day state visit to Kigali, Rwanda, by the Congolese head of state, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, disclosed.
Sassou-Nguesso has since returned to Brazzaville, PANA reported from here.
The two states pledged to ratify the agreements and to further carry out consultations and negotiations for the signing of the agreements.
On the situation of Rwandan refugees in Congo, the two leaders recommended that the campaign be intensified before the clause on cessation of refugee status enters into force 30 June, 2012.
Over 7,000 Rwandans, who fled the genocide after Kigali fell under the control of the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), settled in the Congo in 1994.
The two leaders welcomed the efforts of their governments in favour of peace, reconciliation, reconstruction and economic development.
They also reiterated their support for the initiatives of the African Union (AU) in the fight against global warming and pledged to contribute to the preparation of the 17th Conference of the Parties to be held in late November, 2011, in Durban, South Africa, and the Rio+20 Summit, slated for Brazil, in June 2012.
Congo and Rwanda established diplomatic relations in 1982 and to date the two countries are bound by several cooperation agreements in various fields
