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KIGALI, June 8-- The newly inaugurated standard gauge railway line between Mombasa and Nairobi is very important to the integration of eastern Africa, Rwandan Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Claver Gatete said here Thursday. "It was a very successful project, thanks to China's support for Kenya," Gatete told Xinhua in an interview at his office in downtown Kigali, the Rwandan capital. The new railway, known as the Kenyan SGR, started cargo and passenger services a week ago in ceremonies attended by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong, the special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Gatete said leaders of the region have attached great importance to the construction of standard gauge rail lines as part of the Northern Corridor, which links Kenya with Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, and the Central Corridor, which starts from Tanzania, through Rwanda and then lead to Burundi, to reduce the cost of doing business, the cost of movement of people and goods. "The one in Kenya is really something to be proud of," he said. "We are working to make sure that we discuss at the regional level how we can also benefit." The 480 km 3.8-billion-U.S.-dollar Mombasa-Nairobi SGR was constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, with 90 percent of the funding coming from China. Gatete said much has been done to advance east African integration, with the removal of non-tariff barriers, cutting the time needed for cargo shipment from Mombasa to Kigali from the original 21 days to about five days. The facilitation of free movement of people, including easier access to work permits and the introduction of common visas, the removal of voice and data roaming fees, and the harmonization of the electricity grid all helped consolidate the integration. | 
