24 Nov 2014

President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama says there is 
need to pay special attention to alignment of the Industrial Policy with the attraction of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in order to accelerate economic diversification efforts.

Officiating 
at the BOCCIM National Business Conference in Maun, President Khama said FDI
 played an important role in the economic development strategy because of the multiplier effect it had on job creation and transfer of intellectual capital
 and technology. In addition,
 he said, it contributed to other important objectives such as economic 
diversification and industrialisation. 

“As 
government, we intend to leave no stone unturned to ensure that Botswana
 becomes one of the top destinations in Africa for global investors. It is thus 
encouraging to note that Botswana was rated the best investment destination in 
the world this year by the US Foreign Policy Magazine that evaluated 112
 countries based on the Baseline Profitability Index (BPI)”, he added.

President 
Khama noted that it was imperative and 
opportune for the local business community to ensure that it drove the economy to 
higher levels by providing a conducive environment for industries to thrive and
 thereby catalyse economic growth.

He said 
future drivers of the economic growth would now be based on identifying new 
exports markets as well as widening the range of export products in line with 
the new Industrial Development Policy, which focused on import substitution and 
export-led growth.



He said government would continue to redouble its efforts to attract in FDI in 
the manufacturing sector because of its potential to create permanent skilled 
jobs. He said the sector could also prove crucial in developing the next
generation of competitive Batswana workers with industry relevant skills.

President 
Khama said a significant portion of FDI had by and large flowed into 
the mining and financial services sectors noting that was a welcome development
 which also called for prudence in ensuring that FDI flows were diversified to
 guarantee that other key economic sectors such as hospitality, tourism,
construction, information, communication technology (ICT) and manufacturing
also benefit.

“If we do 
so, we would be ensuring that local firms in these sectors also grow and become
 globally competitive in line with the theme of the conference,” he added.

He also 
reminded the audience about the recent concluded European Union (EU)/Southern
 African Development Community (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which
offered a guaranteed market for local exports.

In addition, he said the
 extension of the African Growth Opportunities Act (AGOA) by 15 years also
 offered the country quota and duty free access to the US market.

President 
Khama also revealed that the recent relocation of diamond aggregation and sales 
to Gaborone as well as the development of the diamond cutting and polishing
 industry bore testimony of government quest to diversify the industrial base.

He said the global competitiveness of the diamond industry value-chain could still
 benefit greatly from an improvement in productivity and applauded the Botswana
Chamber of Mines for their initiative, ‘Business Development Project’ which
 would support and nurture participation of local manufacturers and service 
providers through consolidated purchasing of inputs for the mining sector.

President 
Khama said the initiative, which was launched in October this year, would 
further promote FDI through attraction of foreign firms that manufacture mining
 equipment that in is not available locally. ENDS