New Century Development, a Chinese investment company has completed buying the land where Jali club, Rwanda television as well as Nyarugenge district are located to construct a five star hotel, a commercial building as well as a conference hall.

The Hong Kong registered company mainly specializes in international trade, manufacturing as well as infrastructure development.

The company bought the land in July and will carry out the construction in two phases. According to New century development chief executive officer, Billy Cheung, the first phase which involves the construction of the hotel, will cost about US$ 40 million; it is expected to commence in January next year and to be completed after two years. The management of the hotel will be outsourced.

He said that phase two of the project is estimated to cost between US$ 30 and 40 million and that African Star construction company-also owned by New Century Development-will oversee the construction process.

The project will be the first investment by New Century Development in Africa, having already made substantial investments in Asia. Mr. Cheung explained that they were attracted to Rwanda due to the beauty of the country, its political stability, security as well as a helpful public service.

"We have visited Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, but we felt most comfortable with investing in Rwanda," Mr. Cheung said.

He was surprised by how fast his company was registered. "It's amazing that we were able to register our company, obtaining a certificate and opening bank accounts, in just one day," Mr. Cheung said.

He further pointed out that the whole process had been very fast, with the negotiations having taken place as recently as last July.

He further lauded Rwanda for having an investor-friendly environment and expects other Chinese investors to follow their example.

He remarked that the numerous visits to China by President Paul Kagame was one of the main factors that led the company to come and assess business opportunities in Rwanda in May this year. He also lauded the Rwanda's investment promotion office in Shenzhen for its efforts in making Rwanda appealing to Chinese companies.

Asked whether the company would be making investments elsewhere in East Africa, Cheung said that the company had envisaged investment opportunities in both Uganda and Tanzania.

New Century Development also has its eyes set on the manufacturing sector. "We have noticed that a lot of construction is going on in East Africa, so we will also venture into manufacturing of building materials," Cheung said.